Chances Not Worth Losing
by SAM777
Summary: Rin is in love with Sesshomaru, but she's too afraid to tell him before he leaves her life, but not for good.
1. Chapter 1

Chances Not Worth Losing

I have already written out the entire story. Actually, it's been written for quite some time. Anyway, since it is 17 chapters long, I will be posting a chapter a day. I would appreciate comments for my next story. Thanks, SAM777.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Inuyasha.

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"Go over there and talk to him," Sango urged Rin.

"I can't. He's not interested in humans."

"Yeah, but you could change all of that," Sango said nudging Rin in his direction. "This could be the last time you'll ever see him."

Rin straightened her cap and gown before walking up to him. He turned around just as she came close enough to be heard over the crowd. "Congratulations," she said holding out her hand. He took her hand and offered a quick congratulations to her. "I…uh…wish you luck in…you'll be working for Representative Smith, right?"

"Yeah." His eyes stayed focused on hers before roaming over her body and then back to hers again.

"That's right. Well, I just wanted to offer you congratulations and tell you good luck in your job."

"Thanks. I hope you do well in grad school."

"Oh, thanks." She gave him a full smile showing her teeth. "Well…it was nice knowing you."

"Same." Rin left him berating herself for chickening out. Sesshomaru watched her return to Sango. He wanted to tell her that he wanted her, but his damn pride wouldn't allow him to.

His mother said behind him, "Stupid humans, they think that they can advance their position by mating with a demon. Don't be a fool like your father." With that she started walking away with him following behind.

His father would have been proud of him. Today he had gotten his masters degree in political science, and now he was one step closer to becoming as great of a politician. His father had served 150 years in the U.S. Senate, was President for 2 terms, and then served in the Senate again for another 40 years.

Unfortunately he died in a fight with another demon over his human mate. He would have won if she hadn't tried to stop them. His father was foolish and listened to her, and that was the cause of his demise. Since then everything he felt about humans was based upon his former stepmother's behavior and his mother's hatred of them.

Rin was the exception. The first time he met her was in class. They had taken a class together, he as a graduate student in an undergraduate class and she as an undergraduate. She sat down next to him and started trying to chat him up. He was not receptive at first, but that all changed when he found her dead body lying off the main sidewalk on campus.

It was late and no one was in sight, but he still used his demon speed to get her to his house without being seen. Once he got her there he laid her on the couch. It was evident that a wolf demon had bitten her several time before killing her. He found the sword his father had left him, the Tenseiga, a sword of healing. It pulsated as he brought it into the living room. Suddenly he saw the soul carriers of the underworld. He sliced through them and seconds later Rin began to breathe again. She opened her eyes, and they stared at each other for awhile before she asked what happened.

From that day on she tried to do everything she could to pay him back. She didn't have to do anything but talk to him. Since that night he couldn't get enough of her positive, perky attitude. He slowly started realizing that he was only happy when she was around and happy herself.

Then she started talking about going to graduate school in Springfield. She would be three hours away from Roselle, where his new job awaited him, and he was sure that traveling to see her would look suspicious. So he enjoyed the remaining time he had with her. That brought him to today.

Rin saw a red handprint on Miroku's cheek. Sango was fuming until she saw Rin's disappointed face. "You didn't tell him?"

"I couldn't. There's a difference between knowing that you can't have him and in being rejected. I didn't think I could handle his rejection." Tears stung her eyes, but she would not allow them to fall.


	2. Chapter 2

Chances Not Worth Losing

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Inuyasha.

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--15 years later--

Rin stared out front window lost in thought. Her mind was replaying the times she spent with Sesshomaru. In 15 years she hadn't been able to think of any guy but him. She loved him, and she would always love him.

A knock on the door startled her. At the door was Sango begging her, "Miroku and I need a babysitter. We have to help out with a sting tonight, and we're the best demon exterminators they have."

"Sure. My house or yours?"

"Mine? It could be a late night."

Rin grabbed her coat and purse and followed Sango to her house. On her way into the house Miroku ran past her and jumped into the car. Six faces watched from the door and front windows. Rin sighed thinking of all the work cut out for her.

They rushed to her immediately. "Can we go play in the backyard?" Miroku and Sango's five year old daughter asked.

"Sure. Why not?"

They ran outside and started wrestling in the leaves. Their laughter carried through the neighborhood. All of a sudden the little girl came running to Rin crying, "They hurt me." She held out her hand to show a small cut.

"Hey," she yelled to the remaining kids. "Why don't you play something a little less painful?" They started playing Frisbee when she took the girl inside to clean the cut and put a band aide on it. The Frisbee went flying into the next yard only minutes after they started playing. Sango and Miroku's eldest child, their 11 year old son, ran into the yard to get it.

--

Sesshomaru had just moved into his new home in Springfield earlier in the week. His mother had insisted that she see his house. Immediately upon seeing it she had started criticizing him for buying a modest house in a residential area instead of outside of town. "There's a human boy running through your backyard," she pointed out.

He could have cared less, but she would have lectured him all night if he hadn't. He went outside and picked the boy up by the back of the shirt as soon as the boy picked up the Frisbee. There were five children in the next yard staring at them, so he figured that's where the child came from.

The exact second he stepped into the yard, Rin came out the back door. Sesshomaru dropped the boy upon recognizing her. She had aged some, but her beauty still shined through. The boy started complaining about being dropped, but Sesshomaru could have cared less. "Rin?"

She looked up to see Sesshomaru standing there in all his glory. She thought he was a dream. "Sesshomaru? Are you really there?"

"Yes…Your son was running through my yard."

"Oh, that's not my son," she laughed. "I'm babysitting for Sango and Miroku. He's their oldest, and the other two human children are theirs. The fox demon belongs to the people across the street, and the two half demons live on the other side of you. I don't have any children. You…live here now?"

"I was appointed to the senate after Trotter died."

"Oh, wow! I had read about his death. Your father would be proud of you!"

"Almost." His father would be proud except for letting his pride get in the way from making Rin his mate. He could hear a growl from his mother. "My mother is in town. I should see to her."

"Yeah." She looked down at the ground and then back up at him. "Tell her that I said, 'hello.'"

"Sure." He turned around but then stopped and looked at her again. "Will I ever see you again?"

"I'm here quite often." She smiled at him, and for a second it seemed like the world suddenly stopped. He returned to his house.

"It's that human again." Her voice was full of venom.

"Her name is Rin, and she sends her greetings."

"Of course she would. Try to get on the mother's good side so it's easier to get to the son."

'She doesn't need to go through my mother to get to my heart,' he mused to himself.

"That human is bad news. She's trying to use you to gain wealth and power like that wench your father married…Now that I've been here and have been insulted by that pathetic human, I will be going home to Chicago." She got into her limo, and it drove away. Her private jet was waiting for her at the airport. Her lifestyle was always extravagant, and she could never understand why he chose a slightly more modest lifestyle.

He looked out his back window at Rin playing with the children. She should be out there playing with their children. Instead of the two half demon children from next door playing with her, they should be their half demon children. He couldn't allow that though. How could he defend her against the party leadership, the other members of his party,…his mother? How fair would it be to their children to not be accepted by either humans or demons?

Around eight o'clock Rin watched as the kids walked home before putting the youngest to bed. The next child went to bed an hour later, and the last child followed an hour after that. When 11 o'clock rolled around she made a bed on the couch. Tomorrow was Saturday and she had no plans.

An hour later Sango shook her awake. "We're back."

"I'm tired. Can I sleep here?"

"Yeah. I don't think Miroku will object, and if he does he can think again."

"Thanks. By the way, I saw Sesshomaru."

"You _are_ tired."

"No! I did. He lives next door."

"Are you sure you didn't imagine it or dream it?"

"I'm sure. I thought I was at first, but then he spoke to me."

"Okay. I think you need some sleep."

Sango ate her words the next morning when she went out to get the newspaper. Coming out of the door in the next house was Sesshomaru. "Sesshomaru Takahashi?" she yelled towards him.

He looked at her curiously as she ran to him. "Sango, correct?"

"Yeah. I thought she was dreaming you up when she told me that you moved in here."

He nodded his head as he opened his car door. "Is she there now?"

"Yes."

"Can you give her this?" he asked handing her his business card.

She took the card from him and noticed that he had written his home phone number on the back. "Uh, sure."

"Thanks." With that he drove off.

Sango walked back into the house to find Rin awake. "I was asked to give you this." She gave Rin the business card. "Wait to call him until tonight."

"What does this mean?"

"He wants to see you again. I don't think he cares if you are a human." She nudged Rin gently before going to draw her daughter's bath.


	3. Chapter 3

Chances Not Worth Losing

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Inuyasha.

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A week later Rin drove to Sesshomaru's house to find him cooking dinner for her. She sat down on a stool by the counter and watched him chop vegetables. "So, why did you ask me to come over?"

"I figured that we could catch up."

"Oh, okay. What have you been doing these past fifteen years?"

"I worked for Representative Smith until the party was in need of someone to replace Trotter."

"Anything else? Mate? Pups? Exciting trips? Awards?"

"No."

"Oh?" she said trying not to sound too excited.

In all reality, the past 15 years of his life had been the longest in his life, almost like 15 years for a human. To demons, years seemed like human months because of a demon's long lifespan. It wasn't hard to figure out why those 15 years was so difficult: he was alone because he wouldn't mate anyone but Rin, and he wouldn't mate Rin. "What has happened to you?"

"I got my masters degree in three semesters and a summer, and now I work for the Auditor General. I have traveled to Japan, finally. What else? Oh, and I babysit for Sango and Miroku often."

He finished sautéing the vegetables, and then threw them over rice. All that was left was the meat. The conversation quickly turned to politics because both were at a loss of words regarding anything else, especially anything personal.

For the rest of the fall veto session and then when he returned in January they would get together every Friday night for dinner at his house and talk about politics. There was only one time that Rin was brave enough to talk about something else. "Sesshomaru, why is it that we never go outside of your house to do anything?"

He hadn't wanted to be seen with her because he knew that the rumors would fly around town about his being seen with a human woman. They would assume he was courting her, and then he would be subjected to questions by his party's leadership. Not wanting to tell her that, he lied, "I don't want demons to think that you are the type of human who tries to use demon males to gain power and wealth."

"You and I both know that I am not that type of woman, and it is their own fault for believing so. Unless you are ashamed of being friends with me because I am a human because I make you look weak."

"That could be true, but I really am doing this more for you than for me."

"I don't believe that whatsoever, but I'm not going to push you. I know that your reputation is on the line, and as your friend I know better than to ask you to do something to damage it." She then thought to herself, 'But I'm doing this more because I love you and want you to be happy, and I guess you couldn't be with me.' She wanted to cry, but she waited until she was alone before doing so.


	4. Chapter 4

Chances Not Worth Losing

I decided to post 2 chapters from now on since a couple of people commented about the fact that the chapters were rather short. I'm sorry for the chapters being so short, but I didn't pay much attention to the size of the chapters at the time I divided them up. I hope this will satisfy everyone.

Oh, and for Jenny, Sesshomaru is 24 at the start of the story. While it takes most students over 4 years to graduate with their bachelor's degree, I made it so that Rin and Sesshomaru both didn't change majors thereby making it longer for them to get through school. Graduate school takes no more than 2 years, so that puts Sesshomaru at 24 years old. Starting in the 2nd chapter he is 39, but time passes slowly for demons once they become adults. As for Rin, she has dated since college, but she decided not to marry any of the men because they could not meet the high qualifications she placed upon them except for Sesshomaru. Is that of any help to you? I can explain further if you would like me to.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Inuyasha.

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Summer break started the first day of July with the budget being passed in the eleventh hour. Sesshomaru had packed up his clothes and papers and went back to his district to spend the next two months fully devoting himself to making appearances around his district when called for. The first month proved to be difficult being away from Rin. One night he even found himself calling her home, but when she answered all the words escaped him. What would he say to her? How could he excuse his behavior when he kept telling himself that he would not be with her? He hung up the phone and went to bed.

The next morning he woke up in his bed in Springfield. While he found it strange, he just tried to push the thought out of his mind, but that ended quickly after he realized that his room had been redecorated. It was now a shade of green and there were plants and flowers everywhere. On the dresser was a picture, and he went over there to check it out.

Sitting in front of the picture was a male's wedding ring, and when he picked it up to examine it he found the inscription _Eternal Love_ written on the inside. Upon further inspection he found that it fit him exactly. From there he picked up the picture that held a picture of he in a tuxedo and Rin in a wedding dress. They were standing in front a justice of the peace kissing. 'So we are married?' If they were married, where was she? Did she leave him?

He figured out that this had to be a dream. There was no way he could go to sleep one night in Roselle wishing he could mate with Rin and then wake up the next morning to find out that he was married and probably married. Yet he was having trouble waking himself up. Just going along with the dream he took a shower and dressed for work. While showering he noticed that he had Rin's teeth marks on the junction between his neck and his collar bone. It confirmed his suspicion that they had mated.

On his way down the hallway and towards the stairs a 15 year old girl came out of the room by the stairs. "Morning, Dad," she addressed him as she walked down the hallway and into the bathroom. He stopped in mid-step and comprehended the new twist his dream brought him. The girl was definitely his and Rin's as she looked a lot like Rin but had dog ears, claws, and fangs.

He then decided to look at the pictures that lined the hallway. A number of pictures were of his daughter from what he assumed were school pictures. The next set was pictures of a half demon boy who resembled him and was only about 5 years old by the last picture on the wall. The boy had silver hair, golden eyes, dog ears, claws, and fangs. Another set of pictures were of Rin and he, and in half of them she was much younger. That must have meant that they had also bonded. He thought he could enjoy this dream if he could figure out where she was.

He could hear the door of the bathroom start to open, so he ducked back into his room until he heard her footsteps disappear down the hallway and her door shut. Quietly he snuck down the hallway and slipped down the stairs. In the living room were all kinds of pictures of them together as a family, many only the three of them.

The newspaper was sitting on the porch as usual. When he opened the paper he was shocked to find a picture of himself on the front page with the lead article about something the Governor had done. Reading a little bit of the story he realized that in this dream he was the Governor.

A minute later the girl came running down the stairs with the boy following behind fully dressed for school. "Good morning, Dad," the boy said. They both started preparing bowls of cereal while he watched them. "Can we go with you tonight?"

"Where am I going tonight?" He looked at his children, who were clearly confused now.

The girl then spoke up, "To pick up Mom from the train station. She's in Chicago right now at a meeting." That would explain why she was missing.

"Right."

"Are you feeling alright, Dad? Should I call Jaken and tell him that you can't work today?"

"Maybe you should." Hey, this was a dream, and in a dream he could do anything he wanted without worrying about the consequences. She eyed him funny, but then decided not to press the issue. "How are you getting to school?"

"The State Police always take us to school. You really should stay home. Too bad Mom's not here to take care of you." She picked up the phone and dialed up a number. "Jaken, my dad is going to stay home today…He seems to be forgetting a lot of things…I know he has meetings all day…Tell them that he's not feeling well…Mom has been gone for a week. You sound almost as confused as he does…Thanks, you stupid toad." She slammed the phone down.

"Should you be talking to him like that?" Sesshomaru questioned her.

"Why not? You do." He furrowed his eyebrows in response. She ate her cereal without saying anything more. Sesshomaru sat there watching them amazed at how vivid the dream was. After they finished their cereal they rinsed their dishes and put them in the empty dish washer. Both grabbed their book bags and she kissed him on the cheek before saying their goodbyes and leaving him alone. He stood at the front window watching them as they got into the squad car.

Immediately he went upstairs to his room and started searching for anything that would give him clues as to what was the background knowledge he needed in this dream. It would not be hard to find since Rin was always a pack rat. He spent the day looking through photo albums and scrap books. From what he gathered, Rin had been with him for a long time. She was there when he first ran for governor. In the meantime she had quit her job as an auditor and became a lobbyist. He wasn't quite sure how they came to be married, but their wedding was small from what he could tell.

After they were married there was a period of years in which it was just the two of them. Then Ai was born. There were pictures of when Rin was pregnant with Ai, and he was kissing or laying his hands on Rin's stomach. They must have greatly looked forward to her birth. Another 10 years passed before Yukio was born. Ai was thrilled to have a sibling to take care of. They had decided then that they would have a child every 10 years.

Some more searching turned up Rin's itinerary. She was in Chicago interviewing some of the legislative candidates for possible endorsement. Her train would arrive that evening at 11. Since it was a Friday and this was a dream, he didn't see anything wrong with allowing the pups to go with him to pick her up.

The pups came home at 3:30, and he immediately had them start on their homework promising them that if they got their homework done now they wouldn't have to worry about it the rest of the weekend. After dinner they sat down and watched television until it was time to leave.

Unfortunately her train was running behind schedule, 30 minutes to be exact. Sesshomaru was getting anxious for the train to arrive. It seemed like he couldn't get any peace because someone was always wanting to get their picture with him or have him autograph something. That wasn't bothering him as much as the wait for Rin. It was his dream, and he couldn't believe he had to wait that long for her to appear in his dream.

Yukio fell asleep leaning against Sesshomaru, and he put his arm around the boy to make him feel more comfortable. Ai sat there engrossed in a magazine. Finally the train arrived and the passengers filed off of the train including a few State Police officers who must have accompanied Rin. Sesshomaru shook his son awake, and when Rin was finally in sight Yukio tiredly ran up to her. "I missed you," he told her.

Ai wandered up to her mother while Sesshomaru stood there staring at Rin. He knew it was a dream, but somehow he had trouble reminding himself that he could show affection to her in public. "I missed the both of you." She hugged Yukio and then Ai. Rin walked with the pups up to Sesshomaru, and without any hesitation she leaned up and passionately kissed him there in front of everyone and he kissed back with the same fervor. Several people stopped and stared at them whispering about how cute it was to see the Governor and the First Lady of the State kissing in the middle of the train station. He imagined that Ai was probably rolling her eyes like most teenagers do.

When they broke apart he picked up the sleepy Yukio and carried him while holding Rin's hand. Ai followed behind rolling Rin's suitcase behind her. They got home quickly, and Sesshomaru aided Rin in getting Yukio into bed. Getting Ai to go to bed was another story, but all Rin had to do was threaten to keep her from going to the party the next evening.

Sesshomaru went downstairs to get a glass of water before going to bed. He was surprised the dream had lasted this long. What was more puzzling was the fact that it was so vivid. It actually felt like he was living this life instead of imagining it. For example, when he kissed Rin, he felt it not just physically but also emotionally. It felt so good being with her, but he knew it would have to end soon since he could finally be alone with her.

He raced upstairs to find Rin stuffing the hamper full of her dirty laundry. She turned around at the sound of him closing the door behind him. It seemed like forever as they stared at each other. Finally she approached him and put her hand up to his forehead. "Are you feeling okay today? Ai called me this morning to tell me that you seemed rather confused, and I come back from a trip that lasted a week and you aren't showering me with kisses like you usually do."

"I'm fine, for being in a dream."

"Huh? I don't understand what you mean by that."

"None of this feels right. Standing here with you like this doesn't feel right."

"Why would you say or feel something like that?" she asked as tears started falling down her face.

He sat down on the bed while she sat next to him, their knees touching, and he wiped the tears from her face. "Last night I went to bed in Roselle. Last night I was missing you, but I knew I couldn't tell you that I love you because I am a demon and you are a human. I knew that no one would ever accept us or our pups. Yet I still wanted you from afar. Then this morning I woke up to find that you are my wife and my mate, and not only that, you and I are bonded. We are both deeply in love with each other when I never knew before that you ever felt that way for me. Obviously people accept our relationship because I have been reelected Governor a few times and people were awed by our display of affection at the train stop tonight. Even our pups are accepted."

She cupped her hands on the side of his face and held his gaze. "Sometimes it does feel like a dream. We've been through so much together, but we deserve everything that has come to us. I couldn't imagine what would have happened to either of us if we hadn't expressed our love for each other. We were both miserable, but now we can be happy together as long as we always have faith in our love for each other. That's all that really matters, our love for each other and that faith in knowing that we love each other. Those two words engraved on your ring don't even begin to express my love for you."

"I love you that much too. I just wish I…I just wish that I hadn't waited that long to tell you." 'I also wish that this isn't a dream, that you were really here with me telling me you love me.'

She smiled at him. "I am going to get ready for bed. Perhaps I can do something to help you with the stress right now." On the way to the bathroom she took off her rings and laid them on the dresser. He looked at them intently. Engraved in her engagement ring was the word _Eternal_, and the wedding ring had the word _Love_ engraved on the inside of it. The words were just the beginning of what he wanted to express to her at the moment.

The water in the bathroom turned off and her footsteps moved toward the door of the bathroom. He looked up to find Rin standing in nothing. His eyes wandered over her body appreciating everything about her. While most men would find her to not be attractive, he could not take his eyes off of her. "Rin, I…"

She walked over to him and put her finger on his lips. "You don't need to say anything." She kissed him just as passionately as they had at the train station. "I love you, Sesshomaru."

"I love you too."

They made love into the early morning, and afterward they lay together enjoying each other's presence. "If this isn't a dream, I couldn't be any more grateful than I am now. If it is a dream, Rin, then I promise that I am not going to rest until I make sure that we will be together like this forever."

"I will always be yours, if this dream or not."

He kissed her forehead before allowing sleep to overtake him.

The next morning he woke up to find that he was alone in bed. He looked around the room and realized that he was in Roselle again. It was too easy to go from where he was now to what he thought was his content life with Rin and their pups. He would have to go through all of the difficult stuff after all, but that would only make things more satisfying once they came true and his dream became a reality.


	5. Chapter 5

Chances Not Worth Losing

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Inuyasha.

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The first day of the veto session was always the slowest. The day was always spent reading all of the bills that the Governor had sent back in some form. Once they were finished with all of the readings, Sesshomaru sat in the office of the President of the Senate, and both of them waiting for the Majority Leader to join them. Sesshomaru was greatly surprised when the Minority Leader of the House and the current Governor also walked in. Sesshomaru stood to shake hands with the men and then they sat down so that they all could see each other. The Governor started, "Sesshomaru, as you know, I am going to run for President in two years, and I want to devote more energy to that. Therefore, I am not going to run for election again this upcoming election cycle."

"Martinez and I have agreed," the President of the Senate started. "That we want you to run for his seat."

"But I haven't been in politics long," Sesshomaru protested. Internally he was excited about this opportunity since his dream would then be partially coming true.

"We thought about that," the Governor admitted. "But you had been working under Representative Smith for 15 years, and you have finished an excellent first year as a state senator. It also helps that your father is well known in this state for all of his political experiences. We think this could be a great opportunity for you, especially knowing that this is a step in the direction you wish to go politically."

"I thank you for the confidence; however, there was something I needed to speak to you about first. I have decided that I want to court a human." All of the men leaned back in their seats and the room became dead silent. "I have denied my love for her long enough."

The Minority Leader finally spoke up, "Do you realize what happened to your father for the same weakness?"

"Yes, I do, and I will not allow that to happen to me. I would never allow that to happen to me."

"How do you know if she wouldn't be using you for your position?" the Majority Leader asked.

"She is different. I know that it doesn't matter to her what I would do for a living." He sat there for a minute before proposing, "I am going out to dinner with her at the Chesapeake tonight. If you don't have any plans, eat there tonight and stop by my table to meet her. Then we can discuss this further tomorrow." They all agreed that it was a good plan.

--

Rin stood in front of the mirror trying to get her hair to lay just right. When Sesshomaru had asked her to go out to dinner she became as excited as a high school girl. To her, this meant that Sesshomaru wasn't as ashamed of being her friend.

She had quite a bit to talk to him about. In the two months he was in Roselle she had changed jobs. While she enjoyed being an auditor, she just couldn't pass up an opportunity to become a lobbyist for the teachers' union1. Now she would be able to influence policies more directly and see Sesshomaru more often.

Sesshomaru arrived just on time and knocked on the door. Rin tried to keep herself from running to the door, but she was sure he could hear her hurried footsteps. "Sesshomaru, it's great to see you again," she said as she opened the door.

"Same here," he replied in an emotionless voice.

Rin turned around and grabbed her purse and coat from the couch. After locking the door she got into the car and waited for him to walk around and get inside. Once inside the car he was speeding off to the restaurant. They didn't say anything until they were seated and had ordered. "So what did you do over your break?"

"The usual."

"Lots of meetings, golf outings, and dinners?"

"Pretty much."

"Are you going to ask me what I did?"

He eyed her curiously. It was obvious to him that she had something important and exciting that she wanted to tell him. "What did you do over the past two months?"

"I changed jobs! I am now a lobbyist for the teacher's union."

His face remained expressionless, but his mind was racing. This was yet another part of his dream that was coming true. Two things from that dream had come true in one day, so it had to be a forecast of what was to happen in the future. Not wanting to let her know what was running through his mind, he tried to keep all excitement from his face and his voice. "Is that so?"

"Yeah. I'll be able to see you more often."

"Well, sort of. I have been offered the chance to run in the gubernatorial race."

Rin's eyes opened wide. "Really? That's great!"

"There's one problem. Tomorrow I will be discussing something about my personal life that could keep me from gaining votes."

"What could be so serious that you would have trouble getting votes? For gosh sake, you are the son of a former president."

"I cannot discuss it now."

"Why not? I thought we were friends."

"I wish not to speak of it now." He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. That meant that he would not continue this part of the discussion.

That would not stop Rin, but the arrival of a few guests at their table silenced her. She looked up to see the Governor and his mate standing at their table. "Sesshomaru, it is good to see you again. Have you given a second thought to what we proposed this afternoon?"

Sesshomaru rose and shook hands with both the Governor and the First Lady. "I have, and if we can get through this small problem I would like your endorsement." He looked at Rin and then back at the Governor. "May I introduce you to a friend of mine?" They turned to look at Rin, who rose to shake both of their hands. "Governor, this is Rin Ito. Rin, this is…"

"The Governor and his mate," Rin finished his sentence.

"It is good to meet you again, Rin," the Governor said. "How are things working out for you at the union?"

"Quite well, thank you."

"Good. I am always a big supporter of the teachers' unions."

"And that's why you'll probably get a good endorsement from us when you run for president."

He nodded to her. "Well, I see your food coming, and I would hate to keep you from eating. I'll just talk to you tomorrow, Sesshomaru." He turned to Rin, who had just sat down and told her, "And it was nice to meet you again."

"Same here," she told him. They followed the host, who had been patiently waiting, to their table. Sesshomaru sat down and their food was served. "Why won't you tell me what this problem is?"

"I told you that I don't want to talk about it, and that is that."

"You could at least clue me into what is going on? Is it because I'm a lobbyist now?"

'She just had to say that?' He was somewhat cornered now. "No, it is something personal that I wish not to divulge at the moment. You will hopefully know in good time." 'If my dream is a forecast of our future you will know later.' He started cutting up the lobster tail sitting on his plate leaving Rin watching.

She grunted at having lost for now, but she was sure that she could get it out of him somehow by the end of the week. Before she could open up the first crab leg another person was at their table. Actually, it was two people, the Minority Leader of the House and the President of the Senate. "It seems that this is the popular place to eat tonight," the President jested pointing at the Governor and First Lady.

"So it seems," Sesshomaru's emotionless voice expressed.

"Are you here on business?" the Minority Leader asked.

Sesshomaru looked between the two of them rather confused. Everything made more sense when Rin spoke up, "No, tonight we're friends. We went to college together."

The Minority Leader smirked. "Isn't that ironic?" Now was Rin's turn to be confused. "We'll leave you alone then. Sesshomaru, we'll see you in the meeting tomorrow." They left Rin and Sesshomaru alone again.

"Is it coincidence that everyone is eating here tonight or is there something I should know about?"

"Coincidence," Sesshomaru lied. "Don't think anything of it."

The presence of the leaders of the Demon Party put Rin on full alert. If she said anything that would upset any of them, she could endanger any future working relationships she or any lobbyist in her union would have with them. She sat there silently for most of the meal while Sesshomaru tried to engage her in conversation. Finally he tried a new tactic, "I been rather curious to know why it is that you are still single. I thought human women were obsessed with having children."

"Not all human women are obsessed with having children," she corrected him. "I would like to have children, but if I cannot have them with the right man then I would be content not having them. Of course, I'm almost getting too old to have children, and a woman at my age does have great difficulty trying to conceive."

"Then you are prepared to spend the rest of your days alone?"

"Less than you are, but it doesn't look like I will have much of a choice. Besides, I have friends that will be there with me to the end. Even if Miroku and Sango are both dead before I am, their children will return the favor. And you'll hopefully still be my friend by then." She gave him a small but insecure smile. She doubted that he would stay by her side when she was at her weakest. But then again, he did think that being friends with her made him appear weak and here they were eating a casual dinner in front of the Governor, President of the Senate, and the Minority Leader of the House.

It wasn't quite the answer he had expected. He had been hoping that she would hint as to whether or not she was interested in him. If he could have gotten her to confirm his suspicion, thanks to his dream, then he would feel more confident about pursuing her.

"Are you always going to be alone? Isn't it demon nature to mate and produce heirs?"

"I will do so when the time is right."

That hurt Rin more than she thought it would. She had always known that he never loved her, but now she knew that it would never happen. Hopefully he wouldn't find the time to be right until after she died. 'What am I thinking?!' she mentally yelled at herself. 'I can't believe I'm letting jealousy take over. Before today I had always thought that I would just be happy if I knew that he was happy with someone. Suddenly I'm acting like a stupid teenager in puppy love.'

"Let's get out of here. We've both got work in the morning."

Rin agreed and they paid their bills before they left. He walked her to her door since there were a few people outside that he didn't quite seem to trust even though she insisted that they were neighbors of hers. Once she got her door open she stepped just inside and flipped on the light before turning around to look at him. They stared at each other for what seemed like forever. Finally Sesshomaru said, "I guess I should leave now."

"Thank you for going with me to dinner tonight. Hopefully I'll get to see you soon?"

"Yes." He then whispered to himself, "Soon I hope."

"Good night then." She smiled at him and closed the door leaving him in the darkness.

--

The next afternoon the five men gathered in the Governor's office talking about their strategy for endorsing Sesshomaru. After not hearing them address the issue of he and Rin, he brought it up. "How do you feel about me and Rin?"

"I don't know her well," the Governor admitted. "However, she seems likes a perfectly wonderful girl. She kind of reminds me of my mate when we were younger."

"Yesterday you were all insisting that she would be taking advantage of me."

The Majority Leader of the Senate leaned forward and addressed this issue, "From what I understand, lobbyists for that union get paid pretty decently, and I remember when she used to work for the Auditor General, who pays his workers decently for state workers. Obviously she doesn't need your money. If she wanted an extravagant lifestyle, she is certainly barking up the wrong tree since I have never seen anyone with your money living so modestly. As for her hunger for power, that's something you've got to determine for yourself. Would she take advantage of you?"

"No."

The Governor spoke, "Then you have nothing to worry about. Actually, I think that your courting her could actually be quite an advantage. You would gain quite a few votes from humans who will think you are more compassionate than they paint the members of our party to be. The problem will come in the form of votes from the demons. They will be quite disappointed in the fact that you are in love with a human, but we will just have to make them realize that you are a better candidate to represent their issues since courting her won't change your ideology. Or will it?"

"If she is to become my mate, she will have to support my political ideology. But I refuse to use her as a tool to gain votes. I don't want her thinking that I'm using her. I love her, and I would give up politics for her to prove that I love her." He was surprised by the words that had just come out of his mouth. He had just stood up to the leaders and revealed his love that he couldn't even express to Rin.

"She's going to be an issue no matter what you want. Maybe you ought to talk this out with her before you decide," the Governor suggested. Perhaps he was right. His mate after all probably wasn't too comfortable at first with him being in the media and thereby gaining attention herself. "Why don't the two of you talk things over, and you call us when you decide what you want to do. If we don't hear anything from you in a couple of weeks we'll start looking for another candidate to endorse."

"I can handle that. I plan to talk to her tonight."

"Good luck. Women are entirely different creatures. Remember that when you are ready to talk about her involvement in the campaign." Wise words from a wise older demon.


	6. Chapter 6

Chances Not Worth Losing

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Inuyasha.

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Rin was sitting down to eat the delicious meal she had just finished creating when the doorbell stopped her. Whoever was at her door kept ringing the doorbell alerting her to the fact that it was obviously urgent business. "I'm coming," she yelled as she looked out the window. It was Sesshomaru standing out there. Immediately she started trying to quickly groom herself so that she would be presentable before opening the door. "Sesshomaru? What are you doing here?"

"I was hoping to talk to you."

"Um…" She looked around her living room at the mess of papers sitting all over the couch. "Why don't you come in as long as you don't get upset about the mess."

He stepped in and looked around taking in the so called mess. "Am I interrupting anything important?"

"I was just sitting down to eat."

"Oh. Well, it can wait until you are finished eating."

"That's okay, unless it's going to take a long time."

"I'm not sure how long it may take." He was actually glad that he could wait a few more minutes so he could rehearse what he would say. Rin ate quickly fearing what was so urgent only a minute ago but was no longer as urgent. Once she finished she got up and started rinsing out her dishes, but he was too anxious to wait for her to finish that. Scooping her up into his arms he took the protesting woman into the living room and sat on the floor with his back to the couch and Rin in his lap. "I have something important to discuss with you."

"That's what I figured," she said sarcastically.

"Rin…" he said before pausing to gather more courage. He had been through many fights, many political debates, many discussions over time, but taking their relationship one step further took more courage than he even thought he had all of a sudden. "I want to take our relationship one step further…" 'So far so good.' "…and I want to start courting you."

To say her face looked shocked was an understatement. She had always wished and dreamt that he would ask her that, but never in a million years had she ever believed it would come true. "You want to court me…a human?"

"I want to court you. If you are human, then so be it."

Rin sat there pretending to be shocked. She didn't want to be too quick to answer him in fear that her enthusiasm was not entirely shared by him. After a minute she slowly answered him, "Okay. I will allow you to court me."

"There's one problem though."

"I know that it's not going to be easy for you to explain why you are courting a human, but I will help you however I can."

"Yes, that will be a problem, but I have something else to deal with. I was offered the endorsement of the party leaders to run in the gubernatorial race."

"They came last night to meet me and decide if I was good enough for you?"

"Yes, but they are fine with you. The problem will be the media and my opponents. They won't wait one second to paint you as a power hungry human trying to use me for her own gain."

"Oh…well, I knew that I was going to have to deal with demons asking that a minute ago when I agreed, but I certainly never expected to have to deal with that many accusations."

"So you are changing your answer?"

"Not necessarily. If it's for our benefit that I can convince as many people as possible, then I suppose that I can deal with that."

"Good." He started nuzzling her neck before placing small kisses up it.

"Sesshomaru, what are you doing?"

"Enjoying you."

"Aren't you moving a bit fast for someone who just found out he could court me?"

"No. Courting doesn't take as long as human dating. If we are pleased with each other I will make you my mate by May."

That didn't bother her. "Oh, okay." She sat there motionless as he continued trailing kisses up her jaw. "What happens when humans and demons mate? I know that your other next door neighbors are human and demon, but I have never asked them what it was like for them to mate."

"It's about the same as when demons mate. The only difference is when they bond. Since demons that mate are often around the same age, if they bond, which is extremely rare, their appearance will not change. When a human and demon bond, the human will change their physical appearance to match their demon mate's. That's also because of the fact that they will gain immorality."

"Why exactly is it called bonding?"

"Bonding only occurs when two mates are in love. When the demons mark their love, the love between them creates a bond that will allow them to live and die together."

"When a human mates with a demon do they mark their mate?"

"Some do, and some chose not to. Would you mark me?"

Rin thought about it for a minute before answering, "If we do mate, I probably would so that female demons know that you're taken."

"We would also marry. The wedding ring would also be a sign."

"Right, but I would want to make sure everyone knew." He continued kissing her, but she felt uncomfortable with it at the moment. "Sesshomaru, can we take this a little slower?"

"Are you afraid of affection?"

"No, it's just that I want us to pace ourselves. It's not right for couples to have sex before they're married or mated."

"If that is how you want it, then I shall slow down."

"Thank you…Besides, we've known each other for a long time, but lately we haven't been able to talk about each other during the 15 years after we graduated from NIU. And don't you think we should talk about your campaign?"

"Well, what about the campaign?"

"Do you want me to help you, or would it be best if I stayed in the shadows since I will cause controversy?"

He took her hand in his and assured her, "I want you to be as much a part of my campaign as you feel comfortable. If you are to possibly be my mate some day it is important that you stand by my side. I want everyone to know that I am not ashamed of courting you."

"I won't be able to come with you when you travel," she said looking at their hands in her lap. "But when you are in town I will be happy to help you when my job permits me to."

"They'll probably encourage you to spend some time working with me since you will be garnering support for them. Not to mention the fact that my support will also encourage the support of the other party leaders and anyone else in the party who will support me."

There were many minutes of silence as Rin sat thinking about all that would change with their new relationship. Most demons and many humans were opposed to human-demon relationships, but at least their closest friends would be of some support. Too bad her parents weren't alive to see her finally courting her true love. His father would have been quite happy with the arrangement also, but his mother… "Sesshomaru?"

"Hm?"

"What is your mother going to say about this?"

"She'll be happy that I'm running."

"I know that, but what will she say about us?"

"She's not going to be too happy. She may even try to kill you, but you don't need to worry about her. I'll always protect you."

"What about when you are on the campaign trail?"

"I'll hire someone to keep tabs on her."

"You shouldn't have to waste your money on that."

"Do you not want me to keep you safe?"

"I do, but I don't think that you should have to waste your money on me."

He held her closer and rested his head against hers. In a seductive voice he whispered to her, "You're worth it." Rin snuggled in closer until they were both comfortable, and they stayed that way until Rin fell asleep. He put her to bed, washed and dried her dishes from earlier in the evening, and went home.

--

The next month proved to be quite an interesting one. First they had to get Sesshomaru campaign staff. Thankfully they took an instant liking to Rin, especially his campaign manager. She wanted to get Rin as involved as possible. If they had the money, Rin would fly or take the train every weekend to join the campaign. This of course was also an obstacle with her work since being a lobbyist is a seven day a week job, but they were more than happy to allow her to aid the campaign since it would bring in much support for that union.

Then they had to prepare the papers and get the signatures needed for him to be put on the ballot. That didn't take as long since he was easily able to get signatures from his supporters in his district and from the party leaders' strongest supporters. The paperwork was more time consuming than a nuisance.

Press releases had to be prepared, fundraisers were organized and held, statements to the media about his issues and his relationship with Rin had to be carefully crafted, and his mother had to be told about Rin before finding out from the media. The last task was expected and ended up being the most difficult of all the tasks.

They arrived in Chicago only days after that night he asked her for her permission to court her. He had not made his mother aware that he was visiting, but he had been told by her servants that she had not prepared anything yet for that day.

Her penthouse sat atop one of the tallest skyscrapers in the city, and they had to be buzzed in by her servants. Once outside of the door Sesshomaru turned to Rin and assured her that everything would be okay. "She's not going to react well to you being here, and she will get even angrier when I tell her. Just stay calm, and allow me to do the talking. I also advise you to stay as close to me as possible."

"Do you think she'll ever like me?"

"Probably not, but she'll eventually have to learn how to deal with it. She can't control my life forever."

He rapped on the door to find it open immediately. "Welcome, Master Sesshomaru," the butler greeted them. He looked at Rin curiously and then his eyes darted back to Sesshomaru. "Your mother is sitting in the study. Please follow me." They followed him through the maze of rooms until they came to a door that was closed. He opened it and stepped in to announce, "Your son and a human are here to see you."

"I know a human is here; her stench is polluting my home," the mature voice of his mother spoke. Rin was standing between Sesshomaru and the wall outside of the study. While she couldn't see his mother's face, she was sure it was set in its usual scowl. "Bring him in."

The butler stepped aside so that Sesshomaru could enter. Sesshomaru took Rin's hand in his and lead the way into the study. "I'm sorry, Master Sesshomaru," the butler said in a rather snotty voice. "But your human companion will have to wait outside. Your mother does not want to see her."

Sesshomaru bared his fangs and growled at him. Rin couldn't hear what was said because it was in such a low frequency. The butler backed away and allowed for both of them to enter the study. Once they were all inside of the study, the butler bowed to his employer and then exited closing the door behind him. "Mother," Sesshomaru addressed her in his usual cold voice.

"Sesshomaru, I don't appreciate you bringing that human in my home."

"I know you don't, but we have both come here to talk to you whether you want to hear it or not." It was obvious to Rin how he learned how to put up a mask to hide his expressions since his mother did that at that exact moment. "Days ago I asked Rin if I could court her, and she has allowed it."

"As long as I am alive, you will not court any humans!" she fumed as she rose to her feet.

"I will do as I please."

"Have you not learned from your father's mistake?"

"I have learned from his mistake, and I will not allow that to happen to us."

"And how are you so sure of this? She may pretend to be a small, scared, little human, but once she has control of you, you will not be able to see her damaging your reputation and stealing your money."

"Rin would never behave in that manner. Izayoi never did that to my father, and you know it."

"Then how do you explain his death?" By now she was slowly approaching the couple. Rin was becoming extremely alarmed by the glint of malice in her eyes. As an instinctive reaction, Rin pressed herself against Sesshomaru.

"That was not a matter of power except for that of trying to take power away from Dad because they thought he was weak. He would have won."

"Yes, he would have won, but that fluzy stopped him."

"That was just a bad call on her behalf." Rin could not get any closer to Sesshomaru at that moment than she already was. His mother was now close enough to reach out and hurt her. Sesshomaru could sense Rin's anxiety, so he let go of her hand and wrapped it around her waist.

"I hardly call that an excuse."

"It's not an excuse, it's the truth." She reached out a hand towards Rin, but Sesshomaru bat it away with his free hand. "Rin, I think it's about time that we leave." She nodded her head.

"You cannot run from me forever, I am your mother. Would you dare chose a human over your own mother?"

"I will have both of you in my life."

"You cannot protect her all the time. You cannot be at her side forever."

"I will protect her at whatever cost." With that said, he scooped Rin up in his arms and walked away from his mother. Rin leaned back to get a glimpse of his mother before they disappeared out the door. His mother stood there glaring at the both of them.

He didn't put her down until he put her into the passenger seat of his car. Once he was inside of the car he turned in his seat to look at her. "If you ever see my mother without me, don't go anywhere near her. Never allow her into your house either." All Rin could do was nod numbly.

They would not see his mother again for another several months. They supposed that during that time she was probably plotting. They didn't have much time to think about it though. Before November had even started, Sesshomaru had been accused of courting Rin in hopes of attempting to gain votes from humans. The demon media commentators were saying that Rin was just trying to use him. This had to be dealt with immediately.

Kathy, Sesshomaru's campaign manager, scheduled a number of media appearances for both of them. Together they assured the people of Illinois that they were truly courting for legitimate reasons. While some didn't seem to believe any of it, the voters obviously did as he won by a large percentage in the primary.

That victory boosted their campaign, but it brought about a greater sense of urgency. While Rin was able to join the campaign every weekend and events nearby on weekday evenings, she was unable to spend any real alone time with Sesshomaru. That just extended their courtship.


	7. Chapter 7

Chances Not Worth Losing

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Inuyasha.

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Finally Election Day came. As soon as the polls were open, Sesshomaru, Rin, his campaign staff, and a group of supporters went to his polling place since he was now registered in Springfield. Sesshomaru was allowed to be the first one there to cast his ballot, and the media had a field day with the photo opportunity. Afterward they went to Rin' polling place so that she could vote. Once again, the media had a field day with that.

From there, they went to a few rallies to get out the vote. By the time the evening came, they were all exhausted, but that would not stop them from watching the election returns. They sat down in a hotel suite while a party for their supporters raged on in the ballroom downstairs. For the longest time the election returns were showing a dead even tie until the numbers suddenly started showing a drop in Sesshomaru's numbers. All he could do was stare at the TV as his world crashed around him. Despite the numbness of it all, he could still feel Rin's arm around his waist and her head on his shoulder.

He suddenly got to his feet startling Rin and walked into the adjoining room. Rin followed him and closed the door behind her. He had his back to her as he talked, "I am a failure. I couldn't convince the voters that I am legitimately courting you."

"No," she said sympathetically. She stepped up behind him, put hugged him from behind, and rested the right side of her face against his back. "You are not a failure. Right now the voters want someone who stands a certain way on issues that your opponent represents better, and they want a governor who's had more political experience than they feel you have had for some unknown reason."

"I'm now jobless. My mother keeps wasting my inheritance…. I can't provide for you like I was expecting to."

"I will take care of us. I don't care if you don't have money or a job. We can always live off of my salary if worse comes to worse, but you will never have trouble finding work in this town."

"Would you wait for me?"

"I will wait for you if you want me to, but you're not going to get rid of me that easily."

She felt him take a deep breath and let it out before he started tugging on her arm to get her to move so that he could see her. He held her close and rested his forehead on hers. "How did I get so lucky to find you?"

He leaned down and was about to kiss her when he heard great rejoicing in the next room and the door open behind him. "Sorry to interrupt," Kathy's voice rang out. "But you'll find this pretty interesting."

They broke apart and walked into the room just in time to hear the announcer say, "In an interesting turn of events, Senator Takahashi has taken a commanding lead." Rin hugged him tightly from the side bringing him into a state of bliss. For half an hour he thought his dream had been shattered. He was wrong to doubt.

An hour late his opponent finally called the race. With an arm around Rin, he emerged onto the stage to address the chanting and cheering crowd of supporters and the media. The noise level in the room grew louder and then quieted enough for him to make his speech.

When he had finished he started giving credit and thanks to his staff. Then he privately asked Rin to stand by him. She was hesitant at first, but she couldn't deny him for long. She stood next to him and waved at the crowd. Suddenly they started chanting her name. Sesshomaru leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Your public approves of you. Give them a speech."

"I couldn't! This is your big day."

"Go ahead. They clearly want to hear you." He gave her a gentle push towards the podium.

The crowd cheered and then lulled. "We thank all of you for coming out to vote today." The crowd cheered again. "Tonight the people of Illinois have voted to put Sesshomaru Takahashi into the Governor's Office, and I couldn't agree with them more. I have known Sesshomaru for 19 years, and I know that he is a trustworthy man. He will continue the work of Governor Martinez, and he will work to benefit and protect the people of this great state. The State will become a better place to live and work because of voters like you." She backed up until she was standing next to Sesshomaru again. He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. She could feel the heat rising in her face as she heard comments from some people about how cute they looked together.

When the other members of his party that won constitutional office races finished their speeches, their group moved upstairs to continue their celebrating. By the time the party had died down, most people were asleep sprawled out in chairs, on one of the couches, and in the beds. Kathy was the last to get to bed, and as she started turning off lights she noticed that the bedroom in the suite still had its light on and there were voices coming from it since it had no door and the walls did not reach to the ceiling.

Wanting to spy on the people in the room, she turned off the lights to the main room and crept silently to peek through the doorway. Lying on the bed was Sesshomaru and Rin. They appeared to be very comfortable as they faced each other with his head resting on his right arm as his reached over her head and stroked her hair; his left arm rubbing circles in her back; her left hand rested somewhere between them, possibly on his chest; and her right arm wrapped around his upper left arm. She had her eyes closed, but she was still awake because she kept giggling at what he was saying.

Not wanting to possibly ruin the moment, she crept to the couch she would sleep on for the night and laid down listening to their conversation.

"And my father would let me join them on the stage. When I was younger, he let me sit on his shoulders during the speech. He always insisted that I be with him and my mother and later Izayoi when we would be interviewed. Then we would party in the hotel suite all night. I would often outlast him."

Rin giggled before saying, "I think everyone went to bed. Maybe we should too." She thought about it and then said, "But I don't want to move to turn off the light. I'm so comfortable right now." She smiled at him and blushed.

"Don't turn it off then. I can fall asleep with it on."

"So can I."

"Then stay this way for now." His eyes bored into hers before she looked away and then at the bridge of his nose.

"Sesshomaru?"

"Hm?"

"If we ever mate, and if we ever have pups, I want them to enjoy election nights like you did with your dad."

"I want the same thing. It can always be a family thing." Kathy smiled thinking about how comforting it was to hear the couple talk about their future. She would be shocked and disappointed if they never mated."

"Too bad your mother couldn't be here though."

"She won't as long as we're together. That's her loss though. She will never get to know her grandpups." Rin smiled on the inside hearing that he was already assuming that they would mate and have pups. "It's probably better for them though. They shouldn't have to know what it's like to never be able to please her or to know that she hates you because she can't accept that you are a human even though you are a wonderful person."

"She should still never be alone though."

"That's her decision, and there is nothing we can do about it. Now, let's get some sleep since I'm sure that they'll want us to get up early with the rest of them." He kissed her forehead before closing his eyes.

"Good night, Sesshomaru."

"Good night, Rin."

Kathy lay there in the silence thinking about how sad it was to hear that there would some sort of obstacle in their relationship. A couple like them would never deserve such hardships.


	8. Chapter 8

Chances Not Worth Losing

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Inuyasha.

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The next morning they were woken up by sounds of the guys calling each other not so quietly to come and see the couple lying together on the bed. Sesshomaru growled before letting go of Rin and getting up. There was much to do today, and checking out was just one of the tasks. Everyone took their showers, got ready for the media that would likely be waiting for them downstairs, cleaned the room, and packed their things. The hotel lobby was crawling with reporters, photographers, and TV crews waiting to get an interview with Sesshomaru.

He was happy to oblige their requests as the rest of the group finished checking out and packed their cars. Slowly the campaign workers left until it was only Kathy and Rin left. Kathy was busy paying attention to what Sesshomaru was saying, so Rin stood off to the side waiting patiently. Eventually the staff of a Chicago news program noticed that she was there and free to talk.

They approached her and begged her to give them an interview, but she kept telling them that it was more important that they talk to Sesshomaru. "Why is it that you won't give us an interview?" the reporter asked her.

"Because it is Sesshomaru's victory, not mine. I'm just the woman he's courting."

"But you could be the First Lady of the State soon."

"I'm not quite sure about soon, and I'm not sure if I will be mated to him."

"Did something happen between you and Sesshomaru last night?"

"No! I'm just saying that we haven't really talked about mating, so I'm not going to count my chickens before they hatch. You never know what life may bring you."

"Would you like to mate with him?"

"I'm not quite sure at the moment."

"Why not?"

"Well…because I will think about that when the time comes. As I said before, I don't want to count my chicks before they hatch."

Before they could ask her another question, Sesshomaru was rescuing her from the reporter. "I'm sorry, but I have been quite busy talking to everyone else that I didn't get the chance to talk to you," he said holding out his hand to shake the reporter's hand.

She took his hand and he tried to turn the attention to politics; however, the interview quickly turned back into one about his personal relationship. "Will you and Rin now settle down and mate?"

"I wish to refrain from talking about my private life. Could we please stick to politics?" he asked politely. She ended the interview shortly after.

Sesshomaru took Rin to his home, and Rin offered to make him lunch. He took her up on the offer and sat at the table while she fixed them something small. "I never thought I would get rid of her," she admitted to him.

"What exactly did you talk about?"

"She kept asking me if we were ever going to mate. I just told her that I wasn't sure because I don't want to say something and never have it happen."

"Would you ever mate with me?"

"I don't know. I guess I'm waiting for you to ask me." She looked at him longingly over her shoulder to find him staring at the table.

"I need to use the bathroom." He got up and went upstairs to his room. Somewhere in his pockets he had her engagement ring. Finding it, he prepared to go downstairs and finally ask her, but the sound of the door opening and his mother's growl changed that instantly. The ring was shoved back into his pocket as he rushed downstairs to save his Rin. She had her hand wrapped around Rin's neck, and Rin's feet weren't touching the ground anymore. He scooped her in his arms as he took a swipe at his mother. His mother let go allowing him get Rin to safety across the room. "What are you doing here?"

"I saw her little speech last night and her interview this morning. Not trying to steal my son's power, are you?" she asked Rin.

Rin looked at his mother and told her, "I wasn't. I didn't want to do the speech or the interview."

"How dare you flat out lie to me, you human!"

"So what if she is a human?" Sesshomaru asked.

"You are no better than your father. You are blind to this little human's power over you. Can't you see that she's using you?"

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"You would dare believe a human over your own mother?"

"I would believe her more than I would ever believe you."

"You would allow her to coming between you and I? I am your only mother!"

"And until you care for her, I don't want you in my life!" he fired back at her. She stood there watching him for seconds before storming out, but not before she reminded him that he was a disappointment to her. "Are you okay?" he asked Rin as he turned around to examine her.

"I'm fine, but what about your mother?"

"Let her worry about herself."

Tears started falling down Rin's face. Rin never cried, but she just couldn't hold it in any longer. "Maybe it would be better if I hadn't been in your life. You and your mother would still be talking. I have only made things worse between the two of you."

"They were already bad from the start." He hugged her hoping that would comfort her.

"You could have fixed them, but you can't now."

"No, I can't, but I don't care."

"I do though." Her sobbing grew. "Maybe we shouldn't see each other for awhile. If your relationship gets better, then I'll stay away from you forever."

"Please don't do that. You know that if you tell me that I can't court you anymore, I have to comply with your wishes."

"Yes, I do know. That's why I have to. Sesshomaru, you cannot court me until your mother agrees to us, or until she absolutely decides that she will never talk to you ever again." She took his face in her hands and requested of him, "Please take some time to work things out with your mom."

She put on her coat quickly and took her purse and overnight bag with her. It seemed like a long walk to Sango's even though Sango lived next door. Sango found Rin on her doorstep sobbing violently. "What's wrong, Rin?"

"I just told Sesshomaru he couldn't court me anymore," she managed to say between sobs.

"Why did you do that?"

"Because he and his mother were about to kick each other out of their lives all because of me. I can't allow him to throw away his relationship with his mother because of me."

"But Rin, you look so happy together. Last night on TV you two looked so natural together. And you've said that she will never accept you. Sometimes you have to sacrifice one thing you love for the one you love."

"But it should never be your mother."


	9. Chapter 9

Chances Not Worth Losing

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Inuyasha.

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A week had passed for the downright miserable Sesshomaru and Rin. Sesshomaru had hardly done anything all week. He felt like he couldn't go on living without Rin. She was his whole world, and now she was out of his reach. Kathy had stopped by every day to check on him. For her to say that he looked miserable was an understatement. He didn't seem to move from his bed, except to maybe use the bathroom and get something to drink. His hair was a mess, he hadn't eaten in quite some time, and he badly needed a shower.

She finally convinced him to take a shower, and in the meantime she fixed him breakfast. It was almost like trying to feed a toddler. "I stopped by and saw Rin." He looked up at her with curious eyes. "She's not doing well either. She called in sick every day since. She has spent most of that time crying. I can't understand why the both of you called things off when you are so miserable being apart."

"Didn't she tell you why?"

"No."

"It's because she thinks that she's come between my mother and I."

"Hasn't she technically?"

"That was just the final straw. My mother and I have had a strained relationship almost all of my life. We'll never be close like Rin thinks we can."

"Haven't you told her that?"

"Yes, but she still thinks that things can improve somewhat now that she's out of the picture. It's absurd thinking, but she's such a compassionate person…" his voice trailed off.

"You need to show her that."

"I wish I knew how to."

"If you don't do it soon, both of you will waste away. I can't watch after the both of you all the time."

"I know, but I thank you for helping me right now."

"That's what you pay me for," she joked. It did little to lift his spirits.

--

Later that morning Sesshomaru's moping was interrupted by his mother. She stood over him as he lay in bed. "Kathy told me that you were acting like a child."

"Mother, I am not in the mood."

"I understand that Rin has broken your heart."

"She did it in hopes that we would mend our relationship. I don't see how that can ever happen."

"You dare waste your life away over the loss of a human?"

Immediately Sesshomaru was on his feet and in his mother's face. "Rin is my life, and without her, I don't want to live."

"You are to be Governor in January and you can mate with any demon woman of your choosing, yet you weep over that pathetic creature."

"Why do you think it would be better for me to mate with a demon? She would just be using me for my looks, my strength, my money, and my power. Most demon women don't pick mates for love. I want a woman who will love me back. Why can't you understand that and be happy for me? For us?"

"I will never allow any son of mine to love a lowly creature like that!" In a flash she was gone. He knew exactly where she was headed and hoped that he could get there in time.

--

Across town Rin sat in her front window and stared out into space. Her mind was long gone until a body crashed through the window throwing her to the floor. She couldn't react quickly enough because the strange being was crushing her against the floor. "You have ruined Sesshomaru's life," it said to her. The voice was that of his mother, but Rin couldn't see her since her vision was becoming blurry from lack of oxygen. "He finally becomes Governor and now he can't bring himself to do anything besides sitting around and weeping over you."

"I did it because I wanted you and he to repair your relationship."

"I don't care why you did it, but frankly, I am glad that you did. Once he finds out that you are dead, he can move on."

"Do whatever it takes to make him happy. My life is in your hands because I want nothing more than his happiness." Rin was sure any second would be her last, but the weight of Sesshomaru's mother's body no longer held her down. Her eyes took a few seconds to adjust to everything in the room.

Sesshomaru stood there growling at his mother, who was struggling in his tight grasp that he had around her neck. "I should kill you right now."

"No!" Rin yelled at him. Just then the story of his father's death played out in her mind. "Don't kill her, but don't let her loose. I'll call the police." He kept his eyes on his mother as he nodded to Rin. Only minutes after the call the police rushed through her front door. There was a short struggle as they gained control of the demon woman's claws.

Sesshomaru and Rin stood there staring at each other once they were left alone. "Rin, I…" he started but was cut off when she hugged him.

"I came as soon as I heard." He looked up at the door to see Kathy standing there. He nodded to her before carrying Rin to the car.

The police station was bustling with people and officers. They were taken to the office of the chief of police. "If Rin wishes to, she may press charges. If she doesn't, then we have to let Mrs. Takahashi go."

"Can we talk to her?" Sesshomaru asked.

"If that is what you wish. Please follow me." They followed him into an interrogation room. His mother sat at a table handcuffed to the chair for Rin's protection. "You can have as much time talking to her as you wish."

"Thanks." All but one officer left. "Mother, I can't let you go if you will continue being a threat to Rin's safety."

"That thing doesn't deserve to live!"

"I'll decide if she deserves to live or not. I can't believe that Dad even mated with you! It's no surprise to me why it is that he left you."

"Sesshomaru," Rin whispered. He turned to look at her, his eyes immediately softening. "Why did you father leave?"

"He couldn't stand living with my mother anymore. Isn't that right, Mother?"

"I was better off without him."

"Then why are you so bitter towards humans?"

She stared off in silence as Sesshomaru smiled in confidence knowing that he had won this fight. Finally she answered, "She controlled him with an iron fist. Because of her greed, she cut me off from any and all of the money that we both brought into our mating. That bastard knew she didn't love him from the start; they never bonded."

This was a total shock to Sesshomaru. He had always thought his father and Izayoi had bonded. She had died on the same day. "The demon killed her after he killed Father?"

"Yes. I was there."

This just changed everything. "Mother, that was Izayoi though. Rin is different. At least get to know her before making any assumptions."

"She's human, and that's all I need to make my assumptions."

"But if we bonded, would you then take our love seriously?" Rin asked.

"No. I refuse to allow you to bring half breeds into this world. I killed that vile half breed of your father and his wench, and I will do the same to yours."

Sesshomaru turned around abruptly and left with Rin following behind him. Kathy was watching the whole conversation. "So, what are you going to do, Rin?"

"She's always going to be after me if I'm with Sesshomaru or not until Sesshomaru mates with a demon."

"Is that what you want for me to do?" he asked her. Kathy couldn't tell, but Rin could heard the sorrow in his voice.

"I don't want to get between you and your mother, but I don't want you to be miserable forever."

"I'll only be miserable if you leave me." He took Rin's hands in his. "My mother only wants what's best for her reputation even if my current reputation is better than hers. She'll always want me to be miserable as if my misery will make hers less."

"Can we talk in private," Rin asked looking around.

They went to the police captain and asked if they could use his office to discuss what action they would take. Once in his office they stood some distance away from each other. "Why do you want to be alone?" Sesshomaru asked her curiously.

"Sesshomaru, your mother told me that she was going to kill me because my not being with you was making you miserable. Is that true? Were you just as miserable without me just as I was without you?"

He closed the distance between them and they held each other tightly. She rested her head against his chest and listened to the frantic beating of his heart. "I couldn't do anything without you. You are the only thing worth living for. I could care less if I had a great relationship with my mother, if I won every election I ran in, if I had all the popularity and money in the world. All I want is you. I love you, Rin. I have since college, but it wasn't until recently that I understood what it all meant."

"I love you too, Sesshomaru, ever since college. I was so miserable this past week thinking that I had possibly broken your heart and thrown away any chances we could have had, but I also couldn't have you regretting the distance in your relationship with your mother."

"I know that's why you did it. You are just that kind of a compassionate woman, and that's one of the things I love about you. But trust me when I say that I don't want to attempt to repair any sort of relationship with my mother unless you are with me…forever." He leaned away from her until he could get down on one knee. Rin looked at him astonished and confused. He took both of her hands in his and asked, "Rin, will you stay with me forever as my mate and my wife?"

Rin was speechless, so she leaned into him and hugged his face close to her stomach. When she was finally able to collect her words she said, "Yes! I love you." He pulled out the ring that he had left in his pockets all week and put it on her left ring finger. While she gazed in awe at the ring he stood up again and watched as her eyes sparkled. The ring was a simple solitaire that was not too small but not large, and the band was of gold. It was the perfect ring for her. "It's beautiful!" she exclaimed.

"Not as beautiful as you," he whispered in her ear. "Look inside the band." She took it off and looked at the engraving of the word _Eternal_. "Your wedding ring will have the other word to complete the phrase, and my wedding ring will both engraved in it."

"What is the second word?"

"Love, of course."

"Of course." She put the ring on again and hugged him again. They stood like that for awhile before Rin looked up at him. Their eyes locked on each other as their faces came closer.

Just then they were again interrupted by Kathy. "Sorry to disturb you, but the media has gotten word of the incident. They are wanting a press conference outside once you decide what to do."

Sesshomaru sighed and told her, "Give us a couple more minutes, please."

"Sure. Again, sorry." She shut the door and Rin started giggling.

"What's so funny?"

"She always interrupts us when we are about to kiss."

"I guess you'll just owe me a couple of kisses when we can get away from her."

"That I can do," she said sheepishly.

He looked at her for a moment before inquiring, "What do you want to do about my mother?"

"Let her go."

"Let her go? She nearly killed you, she will try to again, and she will try to kill our pups."

"I know, but I have you to protect me. When you're at work, I will have the State Police. Besides, we shouldn't repay evil with evil. Instead of acting at her level, we should show her kindness. Maybe that will have some effect on her sometime."

"It's not likely. I do like playing the role of the knight in shining armor though."

"I enjoy it also."

They walked out of the office to join Kathy in the lobby. "Have you decided?" she asked anxiously.

Rin was the one who answered her, "We are going to drop the charges."

The police officer that was standing there asked them to fill out the paperwork. While Rin was doing that, Kathy had a conversation with Sesshomaru. "Why are you letting her go?"

"Rin thinks that it would be insult to injury."

"Does she realize that she is in danger with your mother roaming the streets?"

"She will be safe. I will protect her, and when I can't be with her, the State Police will do so."

"You just can't order around the State Police to protect anyone. They can only be of service to you and your family."

"I know. Rin will be my family soon. Look at her left hand."

Kathy walked up to Rin and looked at the ring on Rin's left hand. "Oh my gosh," she practically screamed while taking control of Rin's hand. "When did this happen?"

"Just before you interrupted us," Rin informed her as she took her hand back. "Sesshomaru, do you mind if I call and tell Sango and Miroku before the press conference." He nodded his head, and she pulled out her cell phone.

"Hello," Miroku answered the phone.

"Miroku, can you please also get Sango on the phone?"

"Sure."

He returned a minute later while Sango got on the other phone. "We're both listening," Sango said.

"Good, because I have great news!"

"What?" they asked in unison.

"I'm getting married and mated soon!"

Sango squealed in delight hurting both Rin's and Miroku's ears. "I didn't know that you and Sesshomaru were back together," Miroku proclaimed.

"We just got back together after his mother tried to kill me and he saved me. We talked things over and realized that we were both completely miserable without each other and can't be happy if we try to make his mother happy. Then we confessed to each other than we've both been in love with each other since college! Then he asked me to marry him and become his mate!" In intensity in her voice rose as she talked.

Sango was reeling in the excitement and romanticism of it all. "Can we come to the wedding?"

"Of course! It'll be small, but I couldn't get married without you being there. Bring the kids also."

"If that's what you want," Miroku warned her.

"It is. By the way, if you turn on the TV soon you'll see the press conference about the whole incident."

"Okay, we'll watch it," promised Sango. "By the way, congratulations to you and Sesshomaru."

"Thanks. I'll talk to you later."

"Ok. Bye."

"Bye."

Sesshomaru held her hand as they watched his mother walk past them and out of the station. She did not say a word, and Rin was glad for that. They followed shortly after to find the media waiting impatiently for them. Sesshomaru held up his free hand to quiet them. There were several microphones shoved in his face as he started speaking, "This morning my mother crashed through Rin's window and tried to kill her. If I hadn't gotten there in time, Rin would have died. We had the police take her into custody until we could decide to press charges or not. After much discussion…" At that moment he looked at Rin for a few seconds and then back at the crowd. "…Rin and I have decided to drop the charges."

Reporters at once started asking questions, but Kathy tried to keep as much order as possible. Kathy would allow one reporter at a time to ask questions. The first reporter asked, "There were rumors that you and Rin had called off your courting. Were those rumors true?"

"Yes, they were. Rin thought it would be best if we did that in hopes that I could repair my relationship with my mother. Unfortunately that can not happen if Rin is to ever be a part of my life, and that is why my mother tried to kill Rin this morning."

"Why did you decide to drop the charges?" another reporter asked.

"We didn't want to lower ourselves to her level."

"Isn't that dangerous for Rin?" was the next question.

"I will make sure she stays safe."

Then of course the next question had to be, "Are you courting again?"

"Yes. Earlier today Rin agreed to be my mate and to marry me."

"When will the wedding be?"

"We don't know yet."

"Will you inform the people of Illinois when you are married?"

"I definitely will do that. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have had a long day and wish to get some rest." They were several questions thrown out, but Sesshomaru ignored them. He and Rin got into his car and drove off with the help of the police clearing the way.

They finish cleaning the glass from the floor when they got to her home. The police had earlier helped her in boarding up the window. It would be expensive to fix that window, and she would have to get it done before selling the house. "Let me help you pay for the window," Sesshomaru offered as if he were reading her mind.

"No, I can't do that to you."

"Nonsense, it's our money anyway. I just have more than you do right now before we open a joint checking account."

"Oh, right. I forgot about that." She pulled out a garbage can and started picking up some of the larger pieces of glass before trying to vacuum up the smaller pieces while Sesshomaru called a hardware store and arranged for them to come out and look at the window. Rin wasn't paying enough attention to what she was doing and picked up a piece wrong. Immediately she dropped it and rushed into the bathroom to wash her finger. Sesshomaru followed after her when the scent of blood hit his nose. "I cut myself," she told him even though he could clearly see it.

He took her fingers and licked it until it stopped bleeding. Her coppery blood tasted sweet to him and her skin was salty as her palms sweat. He looked up to find Rin enjoying the feel of his tongue as it healed her finger. When he stopped she opened her eyes and looked into his eyes. Slowly he lowered her arms to move closer to her. They were about to kiss again when the phone interrupted them again. "We're never going share our kiss."

"Probably not." She left him to answer the phone. "Hello."

"Hello, this is Fix 'n Stuff note: my best friend came up with that name. We are going to be able to send someone to look at your window right away."

"Thanks. I wasn't expecting you to come out so quickly."

"Anything for _the_ Rin Ito."

"No, please don't do that because I'm famous."

"Hey, it'll actually help us out. If people see that you are one of our customers, they'll think of us when they need something. We should be thanking you."

"No, don't bother. I just need a window repaired, and I've been going there for years."

"Well, thank you anyway. One of our guys should be there in a few minutes."

"Okay. Thank you again."

"No, thank you." With that they both hung up.

"They said that they will have a guy out here in a couple of minutes."

"That's pretty fast. I take it that they're doing so because they figured out who you were?"

"Yep. I hate taking away from other people just because I'm semi-famous."

"You'll just have to get used to it now."

Rin sighed aloud before a van pulled into the driveway. At the first knock the door opened to reveal a human boy hardly in his 20's. "I was sent to look at your window."

"Yeah. It's the front window."

"Do you mind if I look at it from inside?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry," she apologized as she got out of his way so that he could enter her house. The boy froze at the sight of Sesshomaru standing in the middle of the living room. "Oh, wow! I get to meet you too!" the boy exclaimed extending his hand out to Sesshomaru. "My name's Jeff. I voted for you."

"Thanks," Sesshomaru said shaking Jeff's hand. "Rin, I'm going to use your phone."

"Sure. You can use the one in my bedroom." He left Rin alone with Jeff.

"It's a total honor to meet both of you. You're like a celebrity couple."

"We are?" Rin asked furrowing her eyebrows.

"Yeah. Congratulations on your engagement, by the way."

"We just announced it this afternoon."

"I know. A friend of mine works for Senator Riberdy, and they always have the news on. When she heard about the press conference and stuff, she called me up and told me everything."

"Huh. I never thought politicians were of celebrity status."

"They normally aren't. Politics is pretty boring, but I have to say that Sesshomaru is the first politician that gets you excited about the voting. It also helps when he's a demon courting a human and the son of a former president."

"Huh?"

Sesshomaru returned from making a call to Sango and Miroku and pulled her into the kitchen. "I've arranged for you to stay at Sango and Miroku's until we get married. We can move your things into my house in the meantime, and hopefully we can sell your house soon."

"Wait. What? Why am I staying at Sango's?"

"I'm not leaving you alone here with my mother still out there."

"Can't we get someone to watch over the house?"

"I don't feel as safe doing that. If you're at Sango's, at least you'll be living with two State Police officers and next door to me."

"I don't feel right staying there for however many months. That's called wearing out your welcome."

"It won't be that long. I promise you that we will be married before the inauguration so that we can get some officers protecting you at work soon. Until then I'm going to make sure that one of the demons that you work with is with you all the time."

"Isn't that a bit extreme?"

"Not when we're talking about my mother." He took her in his arms and promised her, "I promise that I will not let her touch you or our future pups ever. I can't do that if you won't let me have others protect you."

"I know, it's just that I am starting to feel so helpless. It's not like I have much of a choice, but it's going to be an adjustment."

"Am I worth it?"

"Of course. You'll always be worth it."

He leaned in to kiss her when Jeff interrupted them from the next room, "Rin, I can get a pane of glass this exact size and replace it tomorrow."

Sesshomaru growled, and Rin tapped his nose before pulling away and going to Jeff. Sesshomaru was really starting to get frustrated with the world. It seemed like every chance he got to show her some affection they were interrupted.

Rin was looking in her calendar for the best time for Jeff to come on Saturday to replace the glass when he joined them. Once that was established Sesshomaru asked of her, "Could you pack up some things to take to Sango's?"

"Sure." She left the guys alone knowing that Sesshomaru was probably trying to negotiate over the price.

"What will it cost?" Sesshomaru asked bluntly.

Jeff held out a form for him with some numbers. "I think you will find this to be reasonable."

"Quite." He handed the paper back. "Thank you for coming out on short notice."

"Hey, it was a pleasure getting to see Rin in person." Jeff heard a small growl emanating from Sesshomaru but continued on, "She pretty hot for a woman in her late 30's. I can't wait to see what she will look like when you mate with her. She must have been…"

Thankfully Rin could hear the whole conversation, and before Jeff had finished his statement she called out, "Sesshomaru, please don't." Sesshomaru's eyes changed from red to their usual golden color immediately. He walked behind Rin and put his arms around her possessively and bared his fangs at Jeff. "Jeff, you should probably leave. Just remember next time you are around a demon not to talk about their mate or soon-to-be mate in that manner since they are rather possessive."

Jeff looked frightened when he realized that Rin had saved him from being roughed up. Grabbing his tools he ran for the door and out to his truck. They could hear the tires squealing as he drove away quickly. "I wasn't going to kill him."

"I know, but I didn't want you to rough him up either. I think he learned his lesson." She turned around in his arms and kissed his nose. "Thank you for listening to me." With that she pulled away and finished packing her clothes.

They drove in silence to Sesshomaru's house. It was now dark outside and the snow was starting to fall. Rin left her things in Sango and Miroku's house and promised that she would be back. She and Sesshomaru walked quickly to his house because of the biting wind. He made them a cup of tea to warm them up, and they sat down to drink it and enjoy the time they were spending together.

Once finished, Rin rinsed the cups in the sink and asked, "What do you want to do now?"

"I don't care. It seems like everything I want to do keeps getting interrupted," he pouted trying to still sound dignified.

"What would that be?" Rin asked innocently.

He took her in his arms and nuzzled her cheek. "Can't a man show his soon-to-be mate some affection?"

"Yes, but I have a better idea for how you can do that." She took him by the hand and led him upstairs to the bedroom. He watched her amazed as she flopped down on the left side of his bed. She laid on her right side and used her left hand to pat the side of the bed next to her. "Please hold me like you did a week ago. I want to know what it will feel like to hold you in what will be our bed." He consented to her request and lay next to her and held her close like he did that night.

"Rin, I have held you like this in this bed before." Rin's face distorted in confusion and then fear. "A month before I asked for your permission to court you, I had a dream about our future."

Relief washed over her. "What was it like?"

"I woke up to find that this room looked different, but I was still alone. I walked over and looked at the wedding ring sitting on the dresser to realize that it was mine. There was also a picture of us on our wedding. I found out later that you were on a business trip, and that's why you weren't there. That was also when I found out that you were a lobbyist and I was the Governor. We had two pups, but we were planning on having many more. It was actually your idea to wait every 10 years to have pups since we were having trouble conceiving."

"What were our pups like?"

"Our first pup was a girl. She was 15 at the time. We called her Ai. She looked so much like you, and she was very responsible for a teenager. Our other pup was a five year old boy named Yukio. He looked so much like my father now that I think about it. But he had your patience and your playfulness."

"They sound wonderful. Can we name our first pups that, especially if they come in that order?"

"Of course."

"Was there anything else remarkable about the dream?"

"It was so realistic. I knew it was a dream the whole time, but I could feel and sense everything as if it were real."

"Was I ever there in person?"

"Yes, the dream lasted the whole day, and we picked you up at the train station in the evening. You looked so young, but I had noticed that from the pictures."

"How young?"

"You looked just like you did the first day I ever laid eyes on you. The moment you stepped off the train it seemed like the whole world disappeared around me and time stopped. You came up to me, and I didn't care about my composure in public because I kissed you passionately there in the middle of the train station." Rin's smile continued to grow larger as he talked. "Yukio had already fallen asleep, so we put him to bed as soon as we got home. Ai was a little more stubborn, but you knew exactly what to say to get her to obey you.

"I lingered downstairs for awhile unsure if the dream would suddenly end now that I had time I could spend with you, but when I raced up the stairs you were still there. When I didn't start smothering you in kisses you asked me if I was feeling well. I guess Ai had called you earlier in the day and told you that I had been acting out of sorts and had stayed home. We talked about how I was sure I was in the middle of a dream, but you insisted that it was real because we deserved to be that happy after all that we had been through.

"You spoke so lovingly and patiently to me. When you touched my face I could feel every sensation."

"Was that the end of the dream?"

"Actually, you and I made love." Rin's face turned crimson in embarrassment. "You have nothing to be embarrassed about. That was one of the greatest experiences in my whole life, even if it wasn't real. Afterward I held you like this and I promised you that if it was a dream, I would do everything in my power to make sure it came true. Then we fell asleep. I woke up the next morning back in Roselle, and I was disappointed to find that you were not in my arms."

"That sounds like a wonderful dream. I hope it comes true."

He kissed her forehead before telling her, "It's already coming true." She sighed in contentment. "Rin, what kind of wedding do you want? Not the kind that you are expecting to have on short notice soon, but the kind of wedding you always dreamed of having."

"Well…I always pictured getting married in the spring because there would be flowers everywhere. Lots and lots of flowers of all kinds of colors. We would get married in a nice but quaint hall with our closest friends. I would be wearing an elegant yet simple white wedding dress, and you would be wearing a black tuxedo."

"I said one that you always dreamed of not necessarily with me as the groom."

"But I've only dreamed of a wedding with you as the groom. I have been in love with you for 18 years, so I couldn't imagine anyone or a faceless man when it was always you that I wished would marry me." Amusement sparkled in his eyes and a small smile appeared on his lips. "We would get married and then go to your house so you could mark me. We would spend the whole week together enjoying each others' company and doing other stuff." Her face turned crimson again.

"My Rin was having dirty thoughts about me?" he teased her.

"No, but the thought that it would happen, of course, was always in the back of my mind. I guess it won't be so embarrassing when that day comes. It's just that after 39 years, a human woman is rather embarrassed by such thoughts. I never really thought it would ever happen." Her face kept turning redder and redder as she talked. "I now worry that my embarrassment of the topic and the fact that I'm still a virgin will disappoint you."

He took his left hand off of her back and stroked her cheek lovingly. "You could never disappoint me. Even if I had lost my virginity, besides in my dream, before, they would still never compare to you. I love you, and you will be my mate and my wife. That alone will make it right unlike if I had been with anyone else."

"I love you, Sesshomaru."

"I love you too."

They lay there in silence reveling in the feeling of each other's love. They had waited 18 years to tell each other of their love. Most people would say that was too long, but for them it gave them a chance to understand themselves and thereby understand their love better.

Sesshomaru could hear Rin's breathing start to even out, so he got up from the bed. As soon as his warmth left her she started whimpering. He walked around and picked her up to hear her whimpering cease. The walk to Sango's took only a few seconds as he ran at full speed to keep Rin warm despite the wind. Sango opened the door for him and showed him to the couch that was ready for Rin to sleep on and then left them alone. "Sesshomaru," Rin whined when he put her down. "I want to stay with you."

"That wouldn't be wise, Rin. If the media finds out that we stayed in the same house, much less the same bed, then they'll start spreading rumors about us."

"I know, but it's so cold without you."

"You and I will be able to share a bed soon enough. We just have a wait a little while longer."

He kissed her forehead and tucked the sheets up to her chin before trying to stand up and realizing that Rin had a tight hold on his shirt. She pulled him close and kissed him gently. He leaned into her kiss making it deeper. When they parted she whispered, "You owe me two more now."

He chuckled at her sudden forwardness. Perhaps he should have told her about the dream sooner. "Good night, my Rin."

"Night." She rolled over and went right back to sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

Chances Not Worth Losing

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Inuyasha.

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In January Rin was really losing her patience. They were only a week away from his inauguration, and they were yet to be married. He had even gone so far as put off any and all planning. All Rin had done to get ready was buy her dress and sell her house after moving her things into Sesshomaru's. Having had enough, she marched over to Sesshomaru's house that night after work and let herself in. He was not home yet, and he had been getting home later and later as the months had gone on.

When he finally did come home she was brooding on the couch. Her dark aura filled the house, and he could feel it immediately upon entrance. "Rin, where are you?" She didn't say anything, so he was forced to go looking for her. Her look was one that he had never seen before. "What is wrong?" he asked as he sat down on the couch next to her and tried to pull her into his lap.

She squirmed out of his reach and stood up to shake her finger in his face. "How can you be so casual when you haven't kept your promise?"

"And which promise is that?"

"You promised me that we would get married before the inauguration, and the inauguration is exactly a week from today!"

"I know I promised that, but things have been a little busy lately." His voice was calm, and that just infuriated Rin even more. "I still promise you that we will be married soon."

"That's what you say now, but when you start, the General Assembly will be back in session and you still won't have time!"

"I always have time for you." He tried to stand up, but Rin pushed him back down.

"Have time for me? If you had time for me you'd at least let me start planning our wedding. I know that we can't set a date, but we could at least be ordering things, getting invitations ready, trying to figure out a date…" she said ticking everything off on her fingers.

He reached out and pulled her into his lap. "If it makes you feel any better, I have bought a tuxedo. A black one."

"And that will make everything better?"

"It's something." He started placing kisses over her neck. "We could go ring shopping if that's what you want. I was actually planning on asking you to do that tonight."

"Do you mean it or are you trying to get yourself out of the fire?"

"I truly mean it. I asked the jeweler if he can let us browse after hours."

Rin looked into his eyes to see that he was indeed telling her the truth. "Okay, but I'm still not happy with the progress."

"Don't worry; things will be done in good time. I don't want to wait any longer to have you all to myself than I have to." He continued to place kisses up and down Rin's neck before licking the spot where he would mark her. "This spot just doesn't look right without my mark there."

Rin got up and said in a serious voice, "Then you shouldn't wait so long to marry me."

"Are you going to behave this way all night?"

"I will behave this way until you stop stalling."

"Okay," he sighed. "How about this weekend we spend all of our free time getting things ready and pick a date." She turned around and smiled at him before plopping down in his lap again. "I take that as a confirmation?"

"Yes." She placed a chaste kiss on his lips before standing up again and demanding that they get going.

Rin chatted incessantly all the way there about everything they had to do that weekend, but Sesshomaru had other plans in mind. Without Rin's knowledge, Sango, Miroku, Governor Martinez and his mate, the President of the Senate, the Minority Leader of the House (who was to become the Speaker soon), and he had been planning the wedding. Actually, he had done most of the planning and the setting up. He had decided to give her the wedding of her dreams, for the most part, without the hassle. It was his hope that she wouldn't be too mad at him for taking away from her planning it and that the gesture would make it even more special.

They pulled into the almost empty parking lot of the jewelry store. The only other person there was the owner of the store, who also happened to be the senator from that district, and they had worked out a deal to get the rings engraved immediately so as to be prepared in time for the wedding only three days away. "Good evening, Sesshomaru and Rin," the jeweler/senator greeted them. "The whole store is yours to browse."

"Thanks," Sesshomaru said while Rin wandered around looking at the rings. It would take an hour for them to agree upon which rings they liked best. Once that was done, Sesshomaru put in the order for the engraving and paid by credit card. Thankfully Rin hadn't been paying attention to their discussion about the cost otherwise she would have realized that the price was higher than normal had they not needed the rings to be engraved so soon. When that was finished, Sesshomaru drove Rin home so he could finish a few things without her there.


	11. Chapter 11

Chances Not Worth Losing

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Inuyasha.

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Friday arrived, and Rin started going through her usual routine. Most mornings she would go over to Sesshomaru's house for a few minutes before going to work, but this morning he was already gone. The strange thing was that Sango and Miroku were gone also, and Fridays were normally their day off. The kids had gone to school early for some before school program that day, so Rin was left all alone.

At work people seemed to be in quite a rush to get things done because most of them claimed that they had something to do that evening. When it got closer to four o'clock she walked across the street to the State House. She had a meeting at four with the President of the Senate, which was not out of the ordinary except that as soon as she stepped into his office she was whisked out the door. "I've got to pick up something from a place on the west side of town. Why don't you accompany me, and I will drop you back off at the office when we're done."

Seeing as she had little choice, Rin consented as they got into his car. They discussed business until he pulled up to a banquet hall. "I'll wait in the car if it's not going to take long," Rin volunteered.

"It could take at least 10 minutes. You better come in or Sesshomaru will kill me for letting you freeze in the car."

He jumped out of the car and Rin followed him until she noticed two of the cars in the parking lot. "Um, what's going on here?"

He turned around and looked at her standing there in the middle of the parking lot. "What do you mean?"

"Why is it that Sesshomaru's and my best friend's cars are here? And isn't that the Governor's license plate?" she noticing the other cars. "And that belongs to one of my coworkers, and so does that one? Is there something I am unaware of?"

"Yes," Sango's voice called out from the front door. "Welcome, Rin, to your wedding." Thankfully the President was standing close enough that he could rush to her side before her head hit the ground. "I certainly never expected her to faint." The President chuckled hardily as he carried the unconscious woman into the room designated for her to change in.

He set her down on a couple of chairs that Sango lined up. "What do we do now?"

Sango pulled out smelling salts from her purse and put it under Rin's nose. Rin's eyes shot open almost immediately. "Good morning, Rin," Sango laughed. "You gave us quite a scare."

"I'm sorry, but where am I again?" Rin asked confused. The last thing she could remember, or what she thought she could remember, was Sango telling her that this was her wedding.

"You are in a banquet hall that has been set up specifically for your wedding. We used him as a tactic to get you here," she said gesturing the President, who then excused himself.

"But-but…how?" she stuttered out.

"Sesshomaru has been working really hard since the day after your engagement to get this set up. He's had some help along the way, but for the most part, this was his all his planning."

"Really?" Her face fell. "And I was just yelling at him the other day about how he was trying to stall the planning. The whole time I was yelling at him he knew that I was entirely wrong, and yet he didn't say anything."

"Yep. I think it's quite romantic. You remember how much trouble I had getting Miroku to help me."

"Yeah, but I have to admit, your getting married to him was the best thing for him. I can't believe that as soon as you exchanged vows he stopped chasing after women."

"That's because he's constantly chasing me," she laughed. She aided Rin in sitting up and asked someone in the hallway to get her hot tea. Coming back to Rin she started playing with Rin's hair. "I have been practicing how to get your hair into that style you wanted. Do you still want me to put it up like that?"

Rin, deep in thought, nodded her head numbly. Sango worked skillfully as Rin thought about how much of an apology she owed Sesshomaru. A knock was heard on the door and then Miroku's voice carried through the door, "Sango, I brought that tea you asked for."

"Come on in. She's still dressed." He walked in carefully and put the cup in Rin's somewhat trembling hands. "Nervous, Rin?"

"A bit. Sango was nervous before your wedding."

A stunned Miroku then had to ask, "You were? About what?"

Sango eyed him quickly before continuing with her task. "I was a bit worried about your skirt chasing. I wasn't sure if you could just be happy with me."

"Sango, I'm astonished that you would think that."

"Sango has a point," Rin informed him. "Even on the day of your wedding you groped me twice. Most men pledge their faithfulness to a woman while they're dating."

"Well, if you felt that way, then why did you marry me?"

Sango turned a little red at her admission, "I don't know." He huffed in displeasure, but Sango quickly made up for it when she leaned over and gave him a passionate kiss. "If you are really good tonight, I'll let you grope me in public once."

He suddenly perked up. "I have to say, Rin, that Sesshomaru is also nervous."

"Why's that?"

"According to him, nothing is going quite right. I think he's afraid that you might be disappointed with his choices."

"He knows what I like, so everything must be perfect."

"Miroku, where are the kids?" Sango interrupted.

"They're fine. They're talking to the Governor and his mate so that they don't get in Sesshomaru's way. He's probably going to kill me if I stay in here too long. Damn demons are too territorial sometimes, especially when they're nervous and it has something to do with their mate."

"Wait," Rin called out to him as he turned to leave. "If I write him something, can you take it to him?"

"Sure."

Miroku found a piece of scrap paper in Sango's purse and a pen and handed them to Rin. She spent a couple of minutes trying to write without disturbing what Sango was doing. Finally she folded up the paper and hand back the pen. "Thanks, Miroku."

"Hey, anything to make him feel better will save my skin." He kissed Sango on the cheek before he left.

"Miroku has definitely matured since college," Rin remarked.

"And I am thankful every day for that."

Miroku walked to where Sesshomaru now stood talking to the Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court. They were lucky enough to get her to do this, but she was always willing to do something for another government official. "Rin asked for me to give you this," he said offering the piece of paper to Sesshomaru.

"How is she doing?"

"She's a little nervous, but you have to expect that since it is her wedding day that she was only informed about it half an hour ago."

Sesshomaru opened up the paper as Miroku started walked away. The note did enough to calm his nerves somewhat: My Dear Sesshomaru, After the shock of it all, I can't express how lucky I am to be to have you as my fiancé and soon-to-be husband and mate. All that time on Tuesday I yelled at you about stalling the planning and you really had been planning it all along. How can I ever apologize for my behavior? I only hope that I can make it up to you somehow. Please don't be nervous, I am sure everything is set up fine, and I will love it even if everything goes wrong because it came from your heart. Just remember that the only important thing about today is that I am marrying you. I am truly lucky to have you. All of my love, Rin.

Sango finished up with Rin's hair and put the veil on afterward. "This is wonderful!" Rin exclaimed looking at herself in the mirror. "You are a woman of many talents."

"That's what happens when you have children, or in your case, pups."

"Well, it's still great!" She sipped the last of her tea and stood for the first time since she fainted. "I'm definitely feeling much better."

"Good, because it's time for you to sit down again and let me do your make-up." As Rin opened her mouth to protest, Sango said, "All I am going to put on you is lip gloss since Sesshomaru has already told me that he finds you beautiful without make-up. I also know that you won't have much time to wash this stuff off, and it's not good for your skin if it's on over night. Now that you are going to have the body of a 20 year old again, you're going to have to work at keeping your face from breaking out again."

Rin giggled, "Who would have ever thought that would happen?"

"After graduation I certainly thought you had blown your chance with him. To be honest with you, I wished that I had told you that I knew he was in love with you."

"You knew?"

"He looked at you in the same way that Miroku looked at me. I knew you were too clueless to see it, but I didn't tell you because I thought you had the courage to tell him." She straightened up and let Rin look in the mirror again. "Do you like the color?"

"Yes."

Sango took a pair of earrings out of a box in her purse and handed them to Rin. "These were my mother's earrings. You may borrow them tonight. Don't worry, I cleaned them. Just don't lose these. If you have to, give them back to me after the ceremony."

"Okay. I can do that."

She then took out a baby blue trimmed garter. "The earrings are borrowed and old; your dress, shoes, and veil are new; and this garter is new and blue. Now you are ready."

"I guess I am." She turned around and hugged Sango. "Thank you. I am eternally grateful."

"It's the least that I could do. You were there for me when I got married, and that was much more nerve wrecking."

"It's still wonderful." Rin let go and stood up. "Let's finish getting me ready since there is an already nervous groom probably growing more nervous every second the waiting drags on."

Ten minutes later Rin was standing in her dress admiring herself in a full length mirror in the women's bathroom. She was given a bouquet of fresh flowers. "Sesshomaru went through a lot to get fresh flowers since you love them so much."

"How?"

"We found a florist out here that has a large greenhouse and grows most types of flowers all year round. You'll be pleasantly surprised when you see the rest of this place. Now, are you ready to make the next step in your life?"

"I've been ready for a looooong time," she giggled.

"Let's go then."

They stepped out and Sango opened the doors to the main room. Clearing her throat she walked to her seat signaling to the others to do the same. Those who were sitting down stood up and all eyes focused on Rin.

She was in awe of the room. It was decorated in all kinds and colors of flowers, everything she had ever wanted for her wedding and more. Sesshomaru stood regally waiting for her in a black tuxedo that made his silver hair and golden eyes stand out even more. Rin smiled at him, and he smiled back.

She linked arms with Sesshomaru when she got to the other end of the aisle. "You look beautiful," he whispered to her. Rin's response was a bigger smile and a small blush.

The music stopped and their guests sat down. The Chief Justice started her speech, "Sesshomaru wanted me to start by thanking all of you for coming today and helping him with the planning. I must say, Rin, that you are a lucky woman because this is better than what most men do for their wives.

"Love is what brought us here today: the love between Rin and Sesshomaru. I haven't known either of them for long, but I have been a great many things about their relationship. It is said that they first met in college, and during that time they fell in love. However, they did not tell each other. Fifteen years later they had thought of no one else but the other. When he moved to Springfield he decided that he was going to look for her, but he didn't have to go far when one of the kids she was babysitting ran through his backyard. He normally won't have cared, but his mother was there. When he returned the boy to her, it was like time froze for both of them. From then on they started having Friday evening dinner and political discussions until Sesshomaru had a dream that pushed him to finally court her.

"Their relationship became famous once he hit the campaign trail with her joining them on the weekends. Sesshomaru's mother became rather upset about Rin being associated with Sesshomaru, and after a fight, Rin thought it best to cut her ties with Sesshomaru in hopes that he would be able to repair his relationship with his mother. While the public was rather distraught over the true rumors, no one was more upset than either of them. It was for that reason that Sesshomaru's mother decided to kill Rin to help Sesshomaru get over his broken heart, but it ended up backfiring for her and being the biggest advantage for them. I'm told by Sesshomaru that while they were still in the police station they admitted their love for each other and he proposed to her.

"What I find the most interesting about them is that they are not afraid to show the world that they love each other when it seems like the world is against them. While much of the world doesn't find it right for humans and demons to love each other, they still pursued a relationship. While his mother is against their union, here they stand. That is only a glimpse into the love they share for each other.

"It is for that reason why I am proud to be marrying this worthy couple. If there is anyone now that believes that they should not be married, they should speak now or forever hold their peace." She paused for a couple of seconds before continuing, "Sesshomaru, do you take Rin to be your lawfully wedded wife, to live together in marriage? Do you promise to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health and forsaking all others, be faithful only to her so long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

"Rin, do you take Sesshomaru to be your lawfully wedded husband to live together in marriage? Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health and forsaking all others, be faithful only to him so long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

She reached into her suit coat and pulled out two rings. She handed them to each other, and Rin snuck a peek at his ring to see if he had even gotten the rings engraved in time, which he had. "The wedding ring is the outward and visible sign of an inward bond which unites two loyal hearts in endless love. It is a seal of the vows Sesshomaru and Rin have made to one another. May Sesshomaru and Rin, who give these rings and who wear them, may they ever abide in peace and live together in unity, love, and happiness for the rest of their lives.

"Sesshomaru, repeat after me: I come here today, Rin, to join my life to yours before this company." He slipped the ring on her finger while repeating it. "In their presence I pledge to be true to you, to respect you, and to grow with you through the years." He repeated the words. "Time may pass, fortune may smile, trials may come; no matter what we may encounter together, I vow here that this love will be my only love." He again repeated it. "I will make my home in your heart from this day forward." He finished the vows as tears of joy started falling from Rin's eyes.

"Rin, please repeat after me: I come here today, Sesshomaru, to join my life to yours before this company." She slipped the ring on his finger trying to be careful of his claws while repeating the phrase. "In their presence I pledge to be true to you, to respect you, and to grow with you through the years." She repeated the words. "Time may pass, fortune may smile, trials may come; no matter what we may encounter together, I vow here that this love will be my only love." As she repeated the words her voice cracked with emotion. "I will make my home in your heart from this day forward." She finished the vows as Sesshomaru's right hand wiped away the tears.

"And now since you have signified your love by the exchange of vows and the exchange of rings, I pronounce you husband and wife. These were two and are now one. Sesshomaru, you may now kiss your bride." Sesshomaru lifted the veil from Rin's face before cupping it between his hands and pulling her in for a kiss. Their friends cheered as they broke their kiss.

The women hugged Rin as Sesshomaru shook Miroku's hand. The rest of the men gave their congratulations while knowing better to touch his wife and very-soon-to-be mate. Before they left, they filled out the marriage license and the forms that changed Rin's last name from Ito to Ito-Takahashi.

Sesshomaru wasted no time in marking Rin they got home. The minute he closed the door to the garage from the house he threw off his coat and unbuttoned the top of his shirt. With one hand he moved one of hers to hold the shirt collar away from his neck while his other unzipped her dress enough to move it off of the junction of her neck. "When I mark you, I want you to bite that spot on me. Make sure you draw blood before you let go." Rin nodded her head and gulped.

He leaned down and licked the spot before she felt his fangs dig in. Rin gasped quickly before remembering what she was supposed to be doing. With all of her might she bit him and held as tightly as she could despite the fact that she was suddenly feeling very strange. Her body went numb and then began buzzing and her skin began to stretch and pull. Sesshomaru could feel her losing control as she slumped against him, so he held her closer to himself. When she could taste something foreign in her mouth she let go and collapsed. He licked her wound as he held her in one arm and rubbed his blood away with the other hand.

Then just as quickly as the feeling came, it was gone. Her feet were able to hold her weight again, and she leaned off Sesshomaru slowly. His hand was still pressed against his neck to keep from bleeding onto the shirt and possibly her dress. He looked into the face of his mate; the youth of when he first fell in love with her had returned to her face. "What happened? Why did I feel like that?"

"Your body was getting use to immortality."

She realized now that her body did feel different and she was gaining energy she hadn't had in years. Taking him by his free hand, she dragged him through the first floor to the bathroom. One look in the mirror confirmed that she really had gotten younger, but there was no time to think of that with Sesshomaru still bleeding. She got a towel wet and applied it to where she had bitten him. "I'm sorry. I can't believe I could cause so much blood."

"That is the only way it will remain. Every other cut or scrape I get heals rather quickly and leaves no scars."

"You will always have my mark?"

"Yes, just like I did in my dream." She removed the towel and rinsed it out before sponging the area to rid it of the drying blood.

"There, I think it's done bleeding."

"Rin, are you okay with your new body?"

That caught her off guard. "Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be? I will now be with you forever."

"You didn't say anything about it."

"That's because I was more worried about you." She leaned in and kissed him. "Besides, I'm still gaining back energy from the ordeal and more. I haven't been this full of energy since I was 20, but then again, that would make sense since I'm physically 20 in human years again." She laughed at her statement and out of nervousness. The way he was eying her drove strange chills down spine that were both frightening and pleasurable. In a matter of only seconds their lips crashed against each other in a heated passion they never had felt before.

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I got the vows off of 


	12. Chapter 12

Chances Not Worth Losing

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Inuyasha.

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Monday morning came and Rin woke up to find Sesshomaru already awake. "Good morning," she told him before yawning. "How did you sleep?"

"Well. And yourself?"

"Among the best sleep I've gotten in years except for the naps we've gotten this weekend." She grinned at him and he smiled back at her. He had never smiled much before, but when he was alone lately it felt so natural. Of course, it would always be just between Rin and himself. "I hate to keep you from being late to work."

"I don't want to go to work. Why does the weekend have to be so short when you don't want it to?"

"We must though. Tomorrow is the inauguration after all."

"Are you getting excited?"

"I'm ready to get it done and over with."

"Really? I guess I'm excited enough for you."

"I'm more excited about coming home to you tonight." He drew her in for a kiss that was cut short by the alarm clock. He reached over and shut it off before commenting, "We really should be getting ready for work."

"Oh, alright," Rin pouted. She got up and went to the bathroom to take her shower while Sesshomaru threw on his robe and went outside to get the newspapers that had piled up over the weekend. There on the front page of the Saturday newspaper was an article announcing that he and Rin had been married in a private ceremony. Upon further reading he found an editorial from a journalist who had been skeptical about him from the start. The editorial essentially said that now that he and Rin were mated everyone could finally tell if the couple was really in love or just fooling the voters. The journalist predicted that Rin would still look the same at the inauguration since they wouldn't have bonded. He'd eat his words soon enough.

The Sunday paper was full of editorials of people giving their opinion over whether or not they had bonded. What did these people care about more: Rin and he bonding or the inauguration? It would be likely tomorrow that they would pay more attention to Rin than to him.

Rin's footsteps signaled to him that she was approaching. He threw down the paper for her to read once she entered the room. "It's all about us, isn't it?"

"Yes."

After a few minutes of reading she said, "I'm going to take away from your inauguration, aren't I?"

"They will be more interested in our relationship than in what I have to say, but that is life."

"It's not right though."

"What can we do about it? Nothing." He stood up to leave, but Rin suddenly captured him in a kiss. "What was that for?"

"For loving me, even if it means that people tomorrow will be more interested in our mating than in the real event of the day. But I bet that those who do listen to your speech will be as blown away by it as I am." He smiled at her and kissed her again before leaving her to get ready for his day.

--

Rin arrived at work five minutes early and snuck in through a side door. Thankfully no one was in the hallway, so she was able to get to her office without being spotted. The minute she opened her office she gasped at the sight of all the gifts piled up on her desk. Obviously they were wedding gifts and cards. "Anything wrong?" one of her coworkers asked.

"No. I just wasn't expecting all of this." She moved around her desk to inspect everything before moving them to the corner table in her office. Her coworker started helping with the gifts, neither of them looking at each other too closely.

When they had moved every gift and card her coworker looked up at Rin and his mouth fell open. "You look beautiful!" he complimented her.

Rin blushed slightly before regaining her normal color. "If my mate heard you say that he'd have his hands around your neck."

"I know, that's why I have to say it now while he's not around," he laughed.

"Gustav, do I really look that different?"

"It's hard to notice when someone suddenly gets younger over the weekend. Why do you ask?"

"How much time do you have?"

"I have to be at a meeting across the street in two hours."

"That's plenty of time." She sat down and he did the same. "I'm worried about tomorrow. It's Sesshomaru's big day, and everyone will be more interested in what I look like. I know that they are curious to find out if we were telling the truth about our love for each other, but I don't want that to be the focus of the day."

"He knows that too, but there's nothing really that you can do. Most times people are tired of politics, and when a politician seems more like them, they would rather hear about that. Besides, your beauty is going to send the media into a frenzy."

"Should I behave differently tomorrow, like try to avoid being seen so much?"

"I don't think that's possible. I bet even Sesshomaru will probably try to make sure they see you so that he can show you off. I certainly would be prideful of my wife if I had one and she looked as good."

"So I shouldn't worry too much?"

"No. Sesshomaru is the kind of guy who knows how to handle things pretty well."

"I guess I am over reacting." Gustav nodded his head in agreement. "Thanks for listening to me."

"Hey, no problem, especially for a beautiful woman like yourself."

"You can stop repeating that I'm beautiful. I get the picture."

"I know, but I just can't seem to get over it." He went into the hallway and told someone or some people to come in and see her.

Soon there were four people standing in her office gasping. Finally a secretary exclaimed, "Rin, you look unbelievably good! Not that I doubted that you and Sesshomaru would bond, but I didn't know what to expect you to look like." The other three agreed with her.

"Thanks. Please don't tell anyone outside of the office though. I don't want the press finding out and practically knocking down our doors." They agreed, and for the rest of the day there were only a few more comments made since she was already showing signs of being tired of hearing it.

--

Two mornings later Sesshomaru unwillingly dragged himself out of bed and went downstairs to get the morning paper. The front page did not surprise him as they had most of the page devoted to the inauguration and the inaugural balls. There was a large picture of him during the swearing into office portion of the ceremony and then a smaller one during his speech, which was widely covered in the article. The article continued on the back page and there was a picture of him dancing with Rin, but the only mention of her was that they attended the inaugural balls.

The actual talk about Rin and her new look was only discussed on the editorial page. The same editorial columnist actually had the audacity to say that Rin had plastic surgery to make her look that young. How could she possibly have plastic surgery and heal that quickly?

"Anything good in the newspaper?" Rin asked as she walked into the kitchen fully dressed.

"He thinks you had plastic surgery." He slid the paper in front of her. "Apparently you heal as quickly as a demon."

"Hm, imagine that. Would you mind if I wrote him an editorial criticizing him for this nonsense instead of talking about your inauguration?"

"Go ahead."


	13. Chapter 13

Chances Not Worth Losing

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Inuyasha.

----------------------------------------

--9 years later--

"Anything good in the paper today?" Sesshomaru looked up at his mate and smiled at her. "He wrote something again? Geez, I criticized him once and he still can't get over it. It's been nine years for gosh sake!"

"Don't let him get to you. That's what he wants."

"I know, but it's still stupid."

He pulled her into his lap and smothered her in kisses. The clock in the kitchen chimed killing the moment. "I guess I better get ready." He kissed her one more time before running up the stairs. Rin slowly followed him and dried her hair in the other bathroom before changing into a sweater and a pair of jeans. Sesshomaru joined her downstairs minutes later wearing a button down shirt with the first two buttons unbuttoned and a pair of jeans.

"Ready to go?" he asked her. She put on her coat and picked up her purse before following him to the car.

The car ride was spent in silence except for the radio. They both were nervous about this visit, and both were caught up in their own thoughts. He parked the car and they slowly walked to the office. Sesshomaru sat down while Rin went up to the window to talk to the receptionist. "Hello, Mrs. Ito-Takahashi. Please have a seat and we'll bring you back here in a couple of minutes," the woman behind the window directed her. Rin sat down and nervously played with her fingers. Sesshomaru finally put a hand on top of hers in hopes of stopping her. "Rin," the receptionist called out as she opened the door.

They stood up and followed the receptionist into the doctor's private office. Minutes later the doctor came in and sat down across the desk from them. "I am sorry to give you the bad news, but I cannot find what it is that is keeping Rin from conceiving. There is nothing we can do for you."1 Tears started falling from Rin's eyes, so Sesshomaru held her hand. "I can recommend an agency if you want to adopt."

"That is okay," Sesshomaru told her. He turned to her and asked, "Do you want to go home?" Rin nodded her head. He had to lead her out because her eyes were watering greatly.

The whole way home Sesshomaru thought about how much despair Rin was in. He was rather disappointed to; after all, demons have great urges to produce young just as any animal does. He couldn't think about himself though. Rin had been so excited when they decided that they wanted children, and the past six months had been hard on her when month after month she didn't turn out pregnant. She had became more and more depressed as the months passed. They knew that it couldn't be his fault since demons never had any trouble producing heirs, so they went to the doctor to find out what it was that was keeping her from conceiving.

Rin fell asleep on the way home. Before she fell asleep she had been thinking about how much of a failure she was to Sesshomaru. If he had mated with a demon, she would have produced him pups by now. Instead he couldn't have pups because of her pathetic human body.

He carried her into the house and put her to bed, but she unconsciously wouldn't let go. He lay down next to her and held her tightly. As much as he was disappointed in their fate, he knew he could still be happy without pups. He had her, and if anything, not having pups meant that they could spend all their free time together doing what they always had done.

Sesshomaru laid next to her until she woke around two o'clock. She looked up at him and started crying again. "Rin, please don't cry. It's going to be okay."

"I can't help it. I'm such a failure as a mate."

"No," he said soothingly as he caressed her gently. "You make me happy, and you love me. That's all I can ask for."

"But I'm not giving you pups like a demon mate would have."

"I know, but I can live with that if you can."

"But your demon instincts…" She sobbed for a few seconds before suggesting, "If you want to mate with a demon, I won't stop you."

"Rin," he said in a stern voice as his hand ceased their ministrations. "Don't ever think I will ever leave you for another woman." His voice softened again and he continued to caress her. "I love you. If we don't have pups, I will not love you any less. We can live without pups. We've done fine these past nine years. We can continue behaving the way we always do without worrying about pups hearing or seeing something they shouldn't."

Rin giggled a little before hiccupping. "I am so lucky to have you." She reached up to stroke the marks on his cheek and forehead.

"No, I'm lucky to have you." He took her hand and kissed the inside of it tenderly. "I love you."

"I love you too."

1In this story there is not the option of Invitro Fertilization


	14. Chapter 14

Chances Not Worth Losing

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Inuyasha.

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A week and a half later Rin woke up in the morning to feel her stomach revolting against her. She threw the sheets off of her and ran into the bathroom just in time to throw up in the toilet. Sesshomaru heard all of the commotion and rushed into the bathroom to find his mate sprawled out over the toilet seat. "I don't feel good," she moaned.

He picked her up and tucked her into bed. He sat down on the bed next to her and caressed her face gently as he told her, "I'll call your office and tell them that you are sick. Stay in bed and get some sleep. I'll try to stop home sometime around lunch."

"Okay." He leaned over and kissed her forehead. He knew she would be getting sick soon because he had noticed a strange change in her smell. She fell asleep before he even got into the shower.

When he came home for lunch she was asleep, but some of her color had returned to her. He managed to get her to eat some toast and chicken noodle soup before he left for the office again.

That evening he came home again to find her up and making dinner as if she hadn't been sick in the morning. "Should you be up?" he asked her.

"I'm feeling just fine. It was probably just a 24 hour flu or something." She leaned up and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Dinner will be ready soon." They ate dinner like normal and enjoyed their normal evening activities thinking that Rin was just fine except that she fell asleep an hour earlier than normal.

The next morning Rin once again woke up needing to rush to the toilet before disposing of the previous evening's meal. "I wondered if you were well enough last night."

"I don't understand. I was feeling fine except for being tired."

"I want you to stay in bed today, and I will do the cooking." She nodded her head and curled up in the bed before fall asleep.

She wouldn't feel any better in the mornings for the next week, but every evening she felt fine even if Sesshomaru didn't believe her. He couldn't convince her to see the doctor though, so he called Sango and asked her to come over.

"Rin," Sango's voice carried through the house. It would be a couple of minutes before she appeared in the bathroom to find Rin looking rather green in the face. "Sesshomaru wasn't kidding. You aren't feeling good."

"No kidding," Rin said sarcastically. "I've been sick every morning for the past week."

"Just in the morning?"

"Yeah."

Rin flushed the toilet and rinsed her mouth out before climbing back into bed. Sango followed her sitting in the chair on the opposite side of the room so she could see Rin's face.

"Have you had your period this month?"

"No, but that's probably because of being sick."

"I'm not sure, but I think that you have morning sickness."

"What? Don't joke around with me."

"I'm not kidding Rin. It really does sound like morning sickness. I'm going to run out the pharmacy and get a pregnancy test."

"Don't waste your money. I already know that it's going to come out negative." She couldn't believe how incredibly nasty she sounded at the moment, but she just couldn't help being that way when she felt so sick.

"Just humor me, huh." Sango left Rin's house making sure she had the spare key with her and drove to the pharmacy. The clerk looked at her, a forty something year old woman buying a pregnancy test, strangely, but she ignored the looks. On the drive home she called the doctor they both went to for an appointment at noon. It was now nine o'clock, so hopefully Rin would be feeling better by then. "Rin," she said shaking her. "Rin, I'm back." She held out the box for Rin to take.

Rin begrudgingly took the box from Sango and followed the instructions. While they waited she snuggled up in the blankets again while Sango sat in the chair. "If it comes out positive, I made an appointment for you to get a positive confirmation."

"If it's positive, I apologize for everything I said today."

"I can understand how much morning sickness can make someone grouchy."

The timer in the bathroom dinged, and the two women looked at each other. "Please," Rin pleaded.

Sango went into the bathroom and returned with a straight face. "I hope you are feeling better by noon." A smile broke out on her face. "Congratulations, Mom."

--

"I'm in shock!" the doctor exclaimed. "I don't know what you did, but whatever it was, it worked. Have you told your husband yet?"

"No, but I was hoping to afterward."

"Okay. I need you to come in a few weeks for your first examination, and I hope you will bring Sesshomaru with you because I would like to get an ultrasound." Rin nodded her head. "Well, thank you for coming in, Rin, and I hope to see you again soon. It was also nice to meet you again, Sango." With that she was escorting both women to the receptionist. Rin made an appointment and they got into Sango's car and drove off.

"Do you just want me to drop you off at the Capitol?"

"I would appreciate it. Sesshomaru can give me a ride home."

"Okay." She entered the parking lot on the side of the building and pulled into a parking space. "Good luck telling him. I know he'll be happy."

"He's just going to be as shocked as I was. Thank you for helping me today."

"Hey, it's no big deal. You were there for me when I was pregnant." She gave Rin a hug and then told her as she was getting out of the car, "I'll see you soon?"

"Yeah. We'll have to do something together if you're feeling up to it."

"Sure." She waved at Sango as she watched her drive away. Rin turned around and walked to the closest entrance into the building. "Good afternoon, Dmitri," she said to the guard at the entrance.

"Good afternoon, Rin. How are you today?"

"I'm good," she said while putting her purse on the conveyor belt of the x-ray machine and then walking through the metal detector. "I really need to talk to Sesshomaru first, but if I get a chance, I will come back down here and talk with you before I leave."

"Okay. I look forward to hearing from you soon," he called after her as she rushed down the corridor towards the stairs.

The State Police officer guarding the door opened it upon sight of her and nodded. The office's main secretary, a small toad demon named Jaken, sat at the desk talking on the phone with someone. He stopped his conversation to yell at her before she opened the door to Sesshomaru's office, "Stupid human, he is in the middle of a meeting."

Rin walked over to Jaken and slammed her hands down on the desk. "Don't you dare call me a 'stupid human' again! I am a lobbyist, the First Lady of Illinois, and…and I'll tell you the last part later! Now, let Sesshomaru know that I have something urgent to talk to him about but I can wait."

"Huh?"

"Just do it!" She sat down in one of the chairs in there and crossed her arms across her chest and her legs away from him.

Jaken reached across his desk and picked up his phone. In the inner office Sesshomaru excused himself for a second so he could pick up the phone. "Why are you interrupting me?" his angry voice carried through the phone.

"Um, Governor Sesshomaru, yo-your wife is-is here and she want-wants to talk to you," he stuttered.

His voice softened a little, "Did she tell you what it was about?"

"She said it was urgent but she could wait."

"Okay." He put down the phone and looked at the men sitting across from his desk. "My wife has something she needs to tell me. Will you please excuse me for a minute?" They gave their pardon and he walked out of his personal office. When Rin had something exciting to talk about that was of some importance she would always say that it was urgent but she could wait. The idea stemmed back to the day when he asked her to court him, and that evening he had said his business was urgent but he would wait for her to eat. He saw her sitting in the chair obviously upset with Jaken. "Rin, what is the matter?"

She turned her head to him and smiled. Jumping to her feet she walked up to him and whispered, "Is there somewhere we could go and talk in private?" He led her down a small corridor towards some more offices. She stood in front of him not touching him. "How is your day going?"

"You came down here and interrupted my meeting when you should be in bed resting to ask me how my day is?"

"Just humor me please?" she pleaded with her best puppy dog eyes impression. She knew he couldn't resist her.

He sighed, "I've had a terrible day. Nothing seems to be going right."

"Good, then I can give you the news that will make this day perfect."

"What are you talking about?"

She took his hand and placed it on her stomach. "A miracle has happened." His eyes saw what she had done and his ears had heard what she had said, but nothing was quite registering. "We're going to have a pup."

"We're going to have a pup?" he said in a rather dazed way. Then it suddenly hit him like a sack of bricks. He picked her up and swung her around before engaging in a heated kiss. Then he carried her into his inner office and set her down. "Sorry, for the interruption, but I've just been informed that I am going to be a father soon," he said in an expressionless tone.

Slowly the men stood up and shook hands with Rin and Sesshomaru congratulating them both. Rin then excused herself and went to talk with Kathy, who was currently not in a meeting. "Hey, Kathy. Can I talk with you?"

"Sure." She gestured to a seat across from her. "I am surprised to see you here. Sesshomaru told me that you were still sick."

"I have been sick every morning, but I guess I'm just going to have to get used to it for awhile. I'm pregnant!"

Kathy got up from her seat and walked around her desk so that she could hug Rin. "Congratulations! I'm sure Sesshomaru was happy to hear that."

"Oh, he was. I'm just…worried. I know what Sango went through when she was pregnant, but that was with humans. I don't know what to expect giving birth to a hanyou, and the couple with the hanyou children that lived next door moved away a couple of years ago. I was hoping you could tell me what it was like to give birth to a demon, and maybe I can figure out something similar between the two of them."

"It's really not that different, except for the fact that demons develop faster, so they are born sooner. I assume that a hanyou would not be as soon as a demon would, but I don't think you will be pregnant for nine months either."

"That could be a good thing."

"Well, yeah, but then again you will see your pregnancy progress faster. I don't think you need to worry though; you're strong enough to handle this with the help of Sango and me."

"Thanks."

"Do you feel any better?"

"Yeah, about that." She yawned. "I'm getting kind of tired and it's not like I can easily go home."

"I remember being tired a lot during my first trimester. You can sleep on my couch if you want. I don't have any more meetings today except for one with Sesshomaru and the legislative leaders in his office."

"I would appreciate it, but I promised that I would go downstairs and talk to Dmitri. I should also stop by the office for a few minutes."

"When you get back, ignore Jaken and come on in here."

"Ignoring Jaken is no problem. One day I'm going to make sure he is afraid of me."

"Good luck, he's only afraid of Sesshomaru." They laughed about how nervous the toad got when he made Sesshomaru upset.

--

Three hours later Sesshomaru found Rin sleeping on the couch in Kathy's office. She had spent several minutes talking to some of the people downstairs and then an hour at the office making all the necessary arrangements for her return to work the next day and when she would need to go on pregnancy leave. By the time she got back she was thoroughly exhausted and fell asleep in only seconds.

He picked her up gently and took her home. How could he have missed the scent of half demon blood growing in her? Actually, he had smelled it, but he had mistaken it for illness.

Things would definitely be different now. It was unsure how long she could be pregnant, so around the seventh month he would have to stay in close contact with her. They wouldn't know what to really expect from her pregnancy at all because of the difficulty in trying to conceive and a hanyous were so rarely born.

She opened her eyes to see him put her into the bed and leaned down to put his ear on her stomach. The baby's heartbeat was slow, but it was there. "Good morning," she said smiling at him. Her hands ran through his hair as she held him closer to her stomach.

"It is the evening."

"I know, but I was being funny anyway." She let go of him and went downstairs.

"What are you doing up?"

She turned to look at him as he stood in the doorway. "I am making us dinner."

"You should be in bed."

"I'm awake now, and I'm going to have to get used to not being able to sleep all night." She started pulling things out of cabinets, drawers, and the refrigerator. "I was thinking about changing jobs."

"Why?"

"Because I don't think I will have enough time to be both a lobbyist, First Lady of the State, and a mother. It's already hard enough being the first two."

"It does work out though. I saw it in my dream."

"But I don't like the idea of leaving you guys for a week at a time. It almost sounded like I did it often if our daughter was already quite responsible for a 15 year old. Weeks ago I was told that they are looking for staff in the President's Office."

"Gregory? I had heard that he was looking for someone."

"Why not at least let him know that I am interested. He's knows my work."

"Yes, but you may put him in an awkward position. He's a friend of ours, and he's a party member."

"I'll just remind him that I want him to give it to me fairly, based on my qualifications." She turned her full attention to him and pleaded, "Please. Will you do it for me and for our pup?" She rubbed her stomach attracting his attention.

How could he say no? "You've already made up your mind, so I'm not going to stand in your way."

"Thank you." She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek before returning to cooking. He stood there looking at her and imagining what life would be like if she were to get this job. It was contrary to his dream, so would that mean that the rest of their life would not be the same? Would they only have one pup, and if so, what would it be now? Would they still be happy?

He would once again have to live life not knowing what was coming next, and that couldn't be too bad since it would make life more exciting.

--

Five days later Rin sat in Gregory's office. "Congratulations on your pregnancy."

"Thanks. We're both really excited about this pup."

He sat down in his large leather chair. "How may I help you, Rin?"

"I am coming to you asking you for a job. I'm not coming as a friend or as the First Lady of the State but as a woman of political experience looking for a better job."

"I know of your work as a lobbyist, but I never thought you would leave such a job."

"To be honest with you, it is hard for me to devote enough time to being a good lobbyist with my husband's job and now raising a pup…. I know that working here will give me a chance to work just as hard and influence the political process without my being needed 24/7."

"Is that the only reason why you want to change jobs?"

"It was at first." He raised an eyebrow. "I also realized that I need a job that will allow me to work hard and use my education instead of a job that relies on how I can wine and dine politicians and make deals. I know that I am going to have to deal with other members of the party, but I want to be able to help them instead of trying to influence them."

"Now that's what I wanted to hear. I think I could find somewhere for you around here. We can even arrange for you to take as much time off as you need for the pregnancy, and once you have the pup, you may care for it at work if need be. You already know about the State's health insurance plans for state employees. The starting salary is $75,000, but you don't have to worry about that with Sesshomaru's salary as it is. How about we have you start a month from today?"

"I have one question."

"Okay."

"What exactly will I be doing?"

"Researching bills that are submitted in the Senate and writing up summaries for our members. When they need something done, you will supervise other staff in making sure things get done. You will also be helping me in scheduling appearances."

A smile crossed Rin's face. "That sounds wonderful."

"Good. I will see you back in here a month from today." They shook hands and parted ways.

Rin ran down half a flight of stairs to the second floor and into Sesshomaru's office. "Where do you think you're going?" Jaken croaked. "Sesshomaru is too busy to talk to you."

"Excuse me?" She leaned in and got in Jaken's face. "And what exactly is he doing that makes him too busy to talk to me?"

"He's reviewing some of the bills that have just arrived from the House."

"Then he's not too busy to talk to his wife." She stood up straight again and stuck her tongue out at him before going into Sesshomaru's office.

He looked up at her and opened his arms to her. She sat down in his lap and wrapped an arm around his neck. "Do you have the job?"

"I do!" She hugged him. "I'm so excited. I'm going to start in a month. He said that they'll allow me to even care for our pup while at work when I'm ready to come back from pregnancy leave."

"That's quite generous."

"If you want, you can always watch our pup here."

"I know. I look forward to it." He kissed her forehead gently before allowing her to leave.


	15. Chapter 15

Chances Not Worth Losing

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Inuyasha.

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On Rin's next visit to the doctor they got to take a look at the pup. They took a photo of the pup home with them and posted it on the refrigerator.

When Rin started to show the newspapers all over the state ran stories. Of course they were all complimentary, except for that editorial column in the local paper. He still insisted after all nine years that they truly weren't bonded, and now he was insisting that they were just having their one pup to provide an heir for him and that was all. They just ignored the jerk because they knew he would probably criticize them more if he found out how difficult it had been for her to conceive in the first place.

Sango helped Rin out with preparing for the pregnancy. When Sesshomaru was not able to go with her to her Lamaze classes, Sango would go with her. It was good that Sango had been helping out because Rin began having labor pains in the afternoon of a day in which Sesshomaru was not going to be home at all. He was traveling around the state signing bills into law. This day he was at a bill signing with the President of the United States in Chicago.

Beginning labor pains are often mistaken as Braxton-Hicks contractions and are not as bad, so she just assumed that's what was wrong. After a couple of hours when they got closer instead of going away, Rin called Sango and asked her to take her to the hospital.

Once Rin was in a birthing suite Sango asked to use the phone. It took a few tries to get through to Kathy, who was also attending. In the middle of the cermony, Kathy pushed through people to get to Sesshomaru. She leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Rin has gone into labor. She's at St. John's with Sango and Miroku."

Sesshomaru nodded his head with understanding. Inside he was kicking himself. He should have known that today would be the day that she would go into labor, even if she had only been pregnant for six months. He leaned over and informed the President about his current situation, to which the President told him that he understood. Sesshomaru quietly and quickly moved towards the door but not before hearing the President announce that he was leaving to be with Rin.

The flight home took too long for him, and the traffic in town was the worst he had ever seen. By the time he got to the hospital he was in no mood to be stopped, but they insisted that he change into the scrubs that were required of all fathers. Miroku was in the waiting area when Sesshomaru finally was directed to Rin's room. "Sesshomaru, thank goodness you're here. Rin's been asking for you for awhile." Sesshomaru growled at him, finally fed up with all the distractions. "Sorry. Apparently you haven't had a much better day."

Sesshomaru ignored the comment and finally got into the room. Sango excused herself and joined Miroku in the waiting area. "Sesshomaru, you made it!" Rin held her hand out for him to take in his own. She squeezed his hand hard as a contraction came on. Remembering her Lamaze training, he got her to breathe correctly. "The pup is coming fast."

"It is a strong one."

The doctor walked in and started examining Rin to see how dilated she was. Seeing that Rin was finally ready, she sat down on the stool and finished preparing Rin to push. After some pushing, a healthy cry of a newborn was heard throughout the room. "Congratulations, it's a boy."

The pup was washed off while Sesshomaru kissed Rin. She was exhausted, but she was wide awake once her pup was given to her wrapped in a blanket. He had ten fingers and ten toes, beautiful amber eyes, adorable puppy ears, tiny claws forming on his fingers, two magenta stripes on each cheek and a blue crescent moon on his forehead, and a very small wisp of silver hair. "He's perfect."

"Just like you." His kissed her forehead and cast his eyes upon his son. After a couple of moments he was allowed to hold the boy. "What shall we name him?"

"Yukio…like your dream."

He looked at her puzzled. "But my dream is not entirely true."

"I know, but I still like the name." She smiled at him and held his tiny hand with a couple of fingers.

"Yukio it is then."


	16. Chapter 16

Chances Not Worth Losing

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Inuyasha.

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The next morning Sesshomaru woke up in the hospital bed with Rin. They had their arms and legs intertwined, so it was difficult for him to get out of bed without waking her up. She was thoroughly exhausted after giving birth and then seeing all of their friends afterward. Then the pup had woken up in the middle of the night wanting to be feed and be changed.

"Good morning." His hand caressed her cheek. "I'm going to take a shower and change. Just go back to sleep." She sleepily nodded her head and closed her eyes again. He kissed her forehead before finally getting out of the bed. The shower inhibited him from hearing or smelling much of what was happening in the room.

Slowly a demon stalked to their room. She was stopped by a nurse who then allowed her to go in since he found out that it was the pup's grandmother. Yukio shrieked out loud when his grandmother picked him up, and Rin's eyes opened wide realizing that the shriek was unlike any cry she had ever heard from a baby. She sat up immediately and glared at the woman holding her pup. "What are you doing with my baby?"

"Can't a grandmother see her grandpup?"

"Not when you hate him. Put him down and I promise I won't call security."

"They know I'm his grandmother, so they won't take him away from me. And your husband is unable to do anything right now."

"Sesshomaru," Rin cried out desperately.

He could hear her cry and turned off the shower. The scent of Rin's and Yukio's fear and his mother sent chills through his spine. In a flash he had on his clothes and shoes and was out of the door, but his mother had already taken off running. He picked up Rin and followed his mother on a high speed chase through the hospital into the parking garage.

His mother stood next to the edge of the garage gently inspecting the boy. "He looks so much like you when you were first whelped," her voice came out softly. It turned harsh as she said, "But the ears remind me of that bastard half brother of yours that I removed from this world."

"Mother, give him to me. He is your grandson, and possibly the only one you will ever have," Sesshomaru demanded. Rin stared at the pup anxiously.

"I have heard of your problems conceiving, and frankly, I could not have been more pleased. I will rid our family of shame first my killing him and then your mate."

Sesshomaru growled, "You will be the one to die. I will see to it." He put Rin down and stepped between her and his mother.

"Not if your dead also," she said as she dropped the pup off of the parking garage.

Sesshomaru turned into a ball of light and was able to catch Yukio before he hit the ground. While that was happening his mother was lunging towards Rin, but she was thrown back as two bullets hit her in the chest. Rin turned around to see Sango and Miroku standing behind her with their guns aimed. Miroku slowly moved forward still concentrating on the older woman while Sango rushed to Rin. The ball of light returned before reforming into Sesshomaru with the pup cradled in his left arm. His right hand extended and the light whip shot out and sliced his mother in half.

Rin rushed to Sesshomaru and took Yukio out of his hands and examined him. He was crying from all that he had been through, but he seemed to be free of any injuries. She was able to get him to calm down when she hugged him close to her. Sesshomaru stood there watching Rin's motherly instincts kicking in. He had almost lost both of them and his life, but they were both safe and his mother was no more. "He seems okay, but I suppose the doctors should look at him." He nodded in agreement and picked up both mother and baby and carried them back to their room.

The doctors found nothing wrong with Yukio, so he was given back to his nervous parents, who were being questioned by the police. It was ruled that Sesshomaru acted in self-defense. The press were all outside the hospital wanting to get more information, but Sesshomaru refused to go downstairs to talk to them. He wanted to stay with Rin and Yukio for as long as he could.

Rin was a little reluctant to put Yukio down when he fell asleep, but she had good reason to be worried. She put him down to allow him to sleep comfortably and sat down in the bed again. "You must be really tired, Rin, so Miroku and I are going to take the kids and go home. We'll be back some time tomorrow."

"Okay. Thank you." Sango leaned over to hug Rin and Miroku nodded. They left leaving Sesshomaru and Rin alone to talk. She scooted over to one side of the bed and patted the other side. Sesshomaru lay down on his side next to her and absentmindedly ran his fingers through her hair. "I haven't thanked you yet for saving Yukio."

"You don't need to thank me. It's my duty as his father."

"I know, but if you weren't a demon, we would have lost him." Her hand reached up to run her fingers across the markings on his face and forehead.

"Are you disappointed with how it ended? With how I handled my mother? I know you always wanted to show her the kindness she never showed us."

"I understand what you did was not easy for you. No one should ever choose between their mate and pup or their mother." She yawned.

"I will never regret my decision though. You and Yukio are my life."

"And both of you are mine. I love you."

"I love you too." She kissed her once before allowing her to fall asleep there in his arms.


	17. Chapter 17

Chances Not Worth Losing

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Inuyasha.

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--15 years later—

Rin sat down at her desk looking through a stack of bills that had just been through their first reading. After reading each bill she would summarize it. "Mom!" five year old Ai yelled running into her office. The little girl had black hair with silver highlights, brown eyes, fangs, delicate hands with claws, dog ears, a red crescent moon on her forehead and two navy blue stripes on each cheek, and Rin's smile.

"How was school?" Rin asked her.

She dug through her small back pack and found a small book. "I read this for Ms. Richie all by myself."

"Good job." Rin hugged the girl. "I'm so proud of you."

Yukio leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. He was now 15 years old and looked more and more like his father. He even had a similar disposition: calm in public, except when he got angry, and sentimental in private. "She wouldn't shut up about it."

"You were the same way when you were her age." She smiled at the memory of him telling everyone under the sun about his new found ability to read.

"Feh....Do you mind if I go and sit in the gallery?"

"How much homework do you have?"

"I can get it done tomorrow before I go out."

"Go ahead then." He left to sit in the gallery of the Senate and listen to the progress of the veto session. His interest in politics was something he had gained from both of them. He even dreamt of one day becoming President like his grandfather.

Rin often wondered if Sesshomaru would ever run for the Presidency, but he never talked about it. She loved living in Illinois because she always had, but she always feared that it may hinder him from thinking about going to Washington, D.C. He was happy being the Governor though, and as long as he was happy, she assumed that things would stay the same.

"Whatcha doing, Mom?"

"Reading over all of these bills until it's time to go home and make dinner. Do you want to color?" Ai nodded her head and was given a box of crayons and some coloring books that had been stored in one of Rin's drawers before sitting on the floor and coloring away.

Normally Ai would go down to Sesshomaru's office and spend some time there pestering Jaken, amusing Kathy, or reading to her father, or playing on Sesshomaru's floor when he was free. Today was different because Sesshomaru was traveling about the state doing several groundbreaking ceremonies because of a grant program he had set up. Tonight she would be meeting him at the airport.

It was funny how things had turned out. Instead of his dream coming true, it had almost been the complete opposite. Their children were born in reverse order, she was waiting for him to come home, instead of a train station it was the airport, and she had a different job. Despite that, she wouldn't have wanted it any other way. All the problems, all of the fights they had, all of the unexpected twists and turns were worth all the joy and pain in the end.

Around six o'clock she packed up everything and locked up her office. Taking Ai's hand she went to retrieve Yukio, who was now downstairs talking to some of the senators and lobbyists. Before she could reach him she was bombarded with questions and people just wanting to talk. It was six forty-five before she got out of the building. As soon as they arrived home Yukio helped Rin out with the cooking while Ai set the table.

They sat down for dinner and Yukio talked about his day at school. They cleaned up the dishes afterward and sat down to watch a movie. When Yukio had turned one she had started scrap booking to preserve as many memories as she could. Every night before she would work on one she would sit down and look at all of the previous ones she had made. The first was devoted to her childhood followed by scrapbooks about Sesshomaru's childhood, their college years, the fifteen years they spent apart, their friendship before courting, their courting, his campaigns, his mother, their engagement, their wedding, the ten years before having Yukio, her pregnancies, Yukio's first years and then his schooling, and Ai's first years. Now she was starting a scrapbook on Ai's schooling.

At 10 o'clock the clock in the living room chimed signaling that it was time for them to leave for the airport. Yukio had to carry Ai through the airport since she was about ready to fall asleep. They arrived as Sesshomaru was coming in. The first thing he did was kiss Rin. Yukio groaned and whined, "Please stop. You're embarrassing me."

That of course didn't stop them. When they parted he took Ai from Yukio and kissed her cheek. She in return hugged him and fell asleep. Yukio took Sesshomaru's briefcase and suitcase so that Sesshomaru could hold Rin's hand and still carry Ai. The men discussed Yukio's classes and a possible internship for the summer at the office of one of local state representative all the way home.

Once the pups were put to sleep the couple retired for the night. Hours later as they laid there holding each other Rin sighed, "I hate it when you go away for days at a time."

"I know. That's one of the reasons why I decided to turn down an offer to run for the Presidency."

"What?" she asked frantically.

"If I am the President, then we wouldn't have as much time for each other, and I wouldn't have time for the pups. The best part about trips is coming home to you and the pups."

"We won't always have pups."

"But we have hundreds of years left to still have pups, and I thought we agreed that we would have one every ten years, if possible."

"We did, but I don't want you to put off your dream until then."

"I don't mind. I prefer it. I have a long time to live, and if I'm President too soon, I won't know what to do with my life."

"Are you going to stay Governor for all of those years then?"

"If the voters will allow me to be, and if you'll always be by my side."

"I will," she said before she gave him a chaste kiss. "I will never leave you, ever. I love you too much."

"I love you too." He rubbed circles in her back. "We should probably get some sleep because Ai will be up early."

"Sesshomaru, before you go to sleep, will you answer one question?"

"Yes."

"Do you think things would have turned out different if I had told you my feelings after graduation?"

"I don't doubt that it would have turned out differently. Sometimes it's best to lose chances to gain new experiences."


End file.
